Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 14,462 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Confluence Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 188,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,462 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $52,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 277.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,161,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,597,451,000 after buying an additional 28,050,956 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,370,093,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,792,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,160,023,000 after acquiring an additional 3,922,567 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,904,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,940,665,000 after buying an additional 137,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 14.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,443,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,801,000 after acquiring an additional 556,188 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:APD traded down $6.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $272.09. The company had a trading volume of 585,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,184. The stock has a market cap of $60.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,233.65, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.75. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.11 and a 12 month high of $314.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.13. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 16.87% and a negative net margin of 0.38%.The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.09 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.390-13.490 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.46 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $1.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3,290.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.62.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gases and related equipment company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as process and specialty gases including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and syngas.

Air Products serves customers in a range of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, food and beverage, healthcare and energy. Its offerings include gases delivered through pipelines, bulk and packaged distribution, and on-site production systems, along with gas-processing equipment and technologies used in applications such as hydrogen production, natural gas liquefaction and carbon capture.

Founded in 1940, Air Products operates across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other international markets.