Clarius Group LLC Cuts Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 8,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,507,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Victoria Brifo sold 1,359 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total value of $397,344.42. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,686 shares in the company, valued at $2,539,612.68. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $325.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $271.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.47. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.69 and a 12 month high of $341.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.10. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.900-12.100 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 3.270-3.470 EPS. Analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

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.