SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 192.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $190,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Williamson Legacy Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 3,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 60,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,405,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT stock opened at $226.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.10 and a 200-day moving average of $243.03. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.68 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

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.