949 Shares in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 87,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,082,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,472,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,265,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AIT shares. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted 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 target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp cut 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to 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 Price Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $234.69 on Tuesday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.56. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 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.