Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Increases Stock Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,231,560,000 after buying an additional 207,404 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,932,581,000 after buying an additional 64,960 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 valued at $1,574,670,000 after buying an additional 3,062,157 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 57,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,191,344,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:APD opened at $279.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.69 and a 52-week high of $341.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.15.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 104.07%.

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.