Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Has $37.17 Million Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 128,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals makes up approximately 2.1% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $37,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,570,000 after acquiring an additional 88,806 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position 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 valued at $608,312,000 after buying an additional 33,313 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,936,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $499,735,000 after acquiring an additional 389,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,867,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $555,967,000 after purchasing an additional 70,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.65.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:APD opened at $329.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.84. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $337.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.47.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.68%.

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.