Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 540,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 25,412 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $156,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 486,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $121,909,000 after acquiring an additional 23,760 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 56,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,058,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 57,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,197,000 after buying an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 135,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,582,000 after acquiring an additional 6,342 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 137,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Berenberg Bank set a $350.00 target price on Air Products and Chemicals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.82.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $295.43 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.11 and a 1 year high of $314.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $290.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.81. The company has a market capitalization of $65.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 16.91%.Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.250-3.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 76.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 2,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.76, for a total transaction of $824,404.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,317,037.12. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global supplier of industrial gases and related equipment and services, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company produces and delivers atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as specialty and process gases used across a wide range of industrial applications. Air Products designs, builds and operates gas production facilities, merchant distribution networks and on-site gas systems for customers that require reliable, high-purity gases and integrated supply solutions.

The company’s product and service portfolio includes packaged and bulk gas supply, pipeline distribution, on-site generation, gas handling and storage equipment, and engineered systems for gas liquefaction and purification.