GWN Securities Inc. Invests $220,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $2,602,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 75,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,104,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,092,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIT has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.1 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $227.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $250.57 and its 200-day moving average is $243.58. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week 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.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.