SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $44,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,231,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE: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 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.03. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on AIT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment 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, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.