KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 9,100 Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 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. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AIT. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 dropped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AIT opened at $232.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.70. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

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.