Sequent Planning LLC Trims Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Sequent Planning LLC reduced its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Sequent Planning LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $224.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $248.92 and its 200 day moving average is $244.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend 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.