Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Reduces Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the 3rd 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT opened at $226.84 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.68 and a twelve month high of $282.98.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIT has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.43.

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.