California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,447 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 366,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,447 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $85,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 1st quarter valued at $1,010,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 105,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,459,000 after purchasing an additional 4,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on APD shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Societe Generale cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Vertical Research raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.75.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $277.04 on Thursday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.88 and a 1 year high of $328.56. The stock has a market cap of $61.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $295.27 and a 200 day moving average of $281.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($0.09). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 16.45%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 31st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.59%.

Insider Activity at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Sean D. Major sold 485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.00, for a total transaction of $151,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,075. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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Air Products & Chemicals, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of atmospheric gases. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Gases-Americas, Industrial Gases-EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Industrial Gases-Asia, Industrial Gases-Global, and Corporate & Other. The Industrial Gases-America, EMEA, and Asia segment markets and produces atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases, process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, syngas, and specialty gases and equipment for the production and processing of gases, such as air separation units and non-cryogenic generators.