Meritage Portfolio Management Boosts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 252.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 160.6% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 3,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $264.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $256.24 and its 200 day moving average is $234.67.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 14.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIT shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James reissued 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. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.