Swiss National Bank Purchases 200 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $18,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented 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. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:AIT opened at $224.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.71. 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 fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98.

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 year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend 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.