Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 680 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,542,000 after purchasing an additional 34,113 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,181,000 after purchasing an additional 40,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $84,139,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,698,000 after purchasing an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AIT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:AIT opened at $227.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.58.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released 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%. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.