Natixis Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 10,867 Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $224.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $248.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.