Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 4,375 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,375 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $2,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $32,233,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,518,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $13,034,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $12,897,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AIT. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT opened at $227.85 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $177.68 and a one year high of $282.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.