Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases New Shares in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $224.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $248.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.65. The stock has a market cap 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. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.