Navellier & Associates Inc. Acquires 835 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 30.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 91,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,867,000 after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,159,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 159,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,087,000 after purchasing an additional 14,426 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 6.9 %

NYSE AIT opened at $245.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $253.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.52. 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 fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This 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 company insiders.

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.