United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys 7,791 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 121.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,791 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,981 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 351,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $96,242,000 after acquiring an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,625,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 126,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,753,000 after purchasing an additional 9,663 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE APD opened at $278.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APD. Barclays raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

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.