O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Acquires 872 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 872 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $7,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AIT. State Street Corp grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,542,000 after acquiring an additional 34,113 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,181,000 after purchasing an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $129,690,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $84,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AIT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 1.9 %

AIT opened at $229.72 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.68 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $245.54 and a 200-day moving average of $245.92.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

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.