Headlands Technologies LLC Buys New Shares in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,540,000 after acquiring an additional 9,667 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 46,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,053,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,238,000 after purchasing an additional 29,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 2.5 %

AIT stock opened at $211.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $243.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, 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.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.