Shelton Capital Management Trims Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Shelton Capital Management trimmed its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 39.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $220.85 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $238.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01.

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, 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%. As a group, 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 announced 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. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

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.