Navellier & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIT. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,625,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,329,000 after acquiring an additional 451,876 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 947,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,575,000 after buying an additional 21,276 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 750,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,099,000 after buying an additional 98,144 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 625,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,009,000 after buying an additional 32,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 559,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,540,000 after acquiring an additional 11,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AIT shares. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp upped 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.1 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 149,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,544. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.15 and its 200 day moving average is $179.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 3.77. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.24 and a 1-year high of $201.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.10.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.08. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 23.69%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.51%.

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.