Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $25.52 Million Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 106,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,518,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $904,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $224.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $251.03 and a 200-day moving average of $243.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.68 and a 12 month high of $282.98.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.64%.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.