Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APD. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 308,329 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,802,000 after buying an additional 3,901 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.65.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:APD opened at $291.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $313.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.22. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.53 and a 52 week high of $341.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total value of $993,565.56. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.