Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Grows Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,140 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.62% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $57,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 12,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,948,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 4,921 shares in the last quarter. FCA Corp TX purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $545,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $925,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $232.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. Analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.29.

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.