Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $30,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,233,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 456.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 130,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,207,000 after purchasing an additional 107,365 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,034,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,897,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AIT shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $245.73 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $253.76 and a 200-day moving average of $239.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

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.