Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,313 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $2,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AIT stock opened at $224.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $248.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.65. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.