Amundi Boosts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Amundi boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.09% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $8,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,233,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,518,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,034,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,897,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

AIT opened at $224.90 on Friday. The stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.86. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.68 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a boost 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.