Calamos Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $17,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dover Advisors LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the third quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.4% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the third quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 5,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APD. Argus cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $328.00 to $241.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APD traded up $1.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $234.82. The company had a trading volume of 129,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.80. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The firm has a market cap of $52.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.56%.

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.