D Orazio & Associates Inc. Invests $215,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EULAV Asset Management lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 55,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,267,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 252.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 2.0 %

AIT stock opened at $262.39 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $255.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.11. The company has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 9.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. 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 yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AIT. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.