DF Dent & Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 23,946 Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 23,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,734,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AIT opened at $236.62 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $245.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.68 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 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.