Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Increases Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 76.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 178 shares during the quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $99,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,540,000 after buying an additional 9,667 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 46,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,053,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,238,000 after buying an additional 29,288 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AIT shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of AIT opened at $236.62 on Thursday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.68 and a 1-year high of $282.98. 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 50-day moving average price is $245.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio 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.