Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Cuts Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $32,233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $3,591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,540,000 after purchasing an additional 9,667 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $226.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.03. The company has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two 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 data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend 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.