Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 532 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APD. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,886,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,458,949,000 after buying an additional 291,104 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,693,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,920,175,000 after purchasing an additional 307,468 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,668,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,729 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,163,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,246,957,000 after purchasing an additional 38,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,829,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,085,399,000 after purchasing an additional 39,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APD traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $241.80. 246,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,819,769. The company’s 50 day moving average is $240.12 and its 200 day moving average is $264.16. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $307.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $304.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $328.00 to $241.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $280.29.

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.