DAVENPORT & Co LLC Decreases Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,211 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $11,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 114.2% in the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 782 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 10.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 57,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,258,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.4% in the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on APD. Citigroup increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $255.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.88.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $290.17 on Thursday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $229.11 and a one year high of $301.11. The stock has a market cap of $64.61 billion, a PE ratio of -192.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $276.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.58.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.12. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 15.77% and a negative net margin of 2.73%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -474.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, Director Ridge Lp Mantle sold 70,175 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.21, for a total transaction of $19,944,436.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 93,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,573,350.79. The trade was a 42.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

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.