Grimes & Company Inc. Buys 209 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $790,371,000 after acquiring an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after buying an additional 33,313 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $322.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $292.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $270.59. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $332.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. 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 (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on APD shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.82.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.