Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,220 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter valued at about $376,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,177,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter valued at approximately $501,000. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.9% in the third quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cox Capital Mgt LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock traded down $0.83 on Thursday, reaching $242.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,439,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,263. The stock has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.16.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 66.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on APD. TheStreet lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Argus cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $328.00 to $241.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $280.29.

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.