Polen Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Polen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,233,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,518,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,034,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,897,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $224.90 on Monday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.68 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The company has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $251.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.41.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced 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 return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. Research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.