F M Investments LLC Lowers Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

F M Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 61.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 47,813 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $7,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of 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. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 12.8 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $232.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $239.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. 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. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.64%.

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.