Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT opened at $224.90 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.