Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $6.77 Million Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 28,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,767,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,542,000 after purchasing an additional 34,113 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,181,000 after purchasing an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $84,139,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,698,000 after acquiring an additional 11,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of AIT opened at $240.55 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 12 month low of $177.68 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $253.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.90. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AIT shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.