Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased 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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 106,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,518,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.28% of Applied Industrial Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $84,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AIT shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 2.7 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $224.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. 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 $251.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.