First Trust Advisors LP Has $96.93 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,975 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $96,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 29,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,129,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,825,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 835.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares during the period. EAM Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,686,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.14.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $221.94 on Monday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.68 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.79.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.