UBS Group Upgrades Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) to “Buy”

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $375.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.42% from the stock’s previous close.

APD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $323.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of APD opened at $327.73 on Monday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $332.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $307.69 and a 200-day moving average of $281.43.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.6% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 11,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 22.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.