Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APD. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 2,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APD. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus lowered their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $317.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.88.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $283.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.11 and a 12-month high of $321.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $256.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.96. The company has a market capitalization of $63.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -187.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.87.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 15.77% and a negative net margin of 2.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.86 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.100 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.850-13.150 EPS. Analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is -474.17%.

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.