Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309,040 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after purchasing an additional 33,313 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $525,085,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on APD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.82.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $330.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.20. The stock has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.24 and a 1-year high of $332.42.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. On average, analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

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.