Ibex Wealth Advisors Takes $325,000 Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $32,233,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $1,279,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth about $3,591,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.1 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $254.88 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.32 and a fifty-two week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.77 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 represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.10%.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.