Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 52.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 774,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 848,033 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $224,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 40.1% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Map LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.0% in the first quarter. One Wealth Map LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 2,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on APD shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $338.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $344.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.82.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $299.46 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $66.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $289.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.98. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.11 and a 1 year high of $314.87.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.14. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a $1.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 76.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 2,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.76, for a total transaction of $824,404.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,212 shares in the company, valued at $4,317,037.12. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.