Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Bought by Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,231,560,000 after purchasing an additional 207,404 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,932,581,000 after acquiring an additional 64,960 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,574,670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,157 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,430,354,000 after acquiring an additional 57,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,583,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,039,259,000 after buying an additional 156,419 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Victoria Brifo sold 2,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.82, for a total transaction of $745,966.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,045 shares in the company, valued at $3,172,411.90. The trade was a 19.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,423,034 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $271.05 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.69 and a 52 week high of $341.14. The firm has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $279.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.50.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.