Fox Run Management L.L.C. Acquires New Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in 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 buying an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $136,803,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $84,139,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,698,000 after buying an additional 11,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $224.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $248.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.96. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 18.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.