Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires 605 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 48.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 963.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

NYSE AIT traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $186.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 288,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,512. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 3.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.24 and a 1 year high of $201.76. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.13. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 15.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total transaction of $364,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 57,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,642.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.