F M Investments LLC Sells 47,813 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

F M Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 47,813 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $7,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $227,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $321,542,000 after purchasing an additional 34,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in 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 worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:AIT opened at $232.47 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $239.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.68 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.64%.

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.