Royal Bank of Canada Raises Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,521,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 213,340 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.13% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $732,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 486,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $121,909,000 after buying an additional 23,760 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 56,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,058,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 135,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,582,000 after acquiring an additional 6,342 shares during the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,649,000. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 124,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,699,000 after acquiring an additional 4,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:APD opened at $293.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.11 and a 1-year high of $314.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $289.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.14. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.250-3.350 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.81 per share. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 2,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.76, for a total value of $824,404.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,317,037.12. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global supplier of industrial gases and related equipment and services, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company produces and delivers atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as specialty and process gases used across a wide range of industrial applications. Air Products designs, builds and operates gas production facilities, merchant distribution networks and on-site gas systems for customers that require reliable, high-purity gases and integrated supply solutions.

The company’s product and service portfolio includes packaged and bulk gas supply, pipeline distribution, on-site generation, gas handling and storage equipment, and engineered systems for gas liquefaction and purification.