Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Increases Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 245,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals comprises about 1.1% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $71,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 39,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. This trade represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of APD stock opened at $291.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.11. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.53 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $312.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $1.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

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.