Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,375 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $2,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 2,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 35,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,958,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 3,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT opened at $227.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.89. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.68 and a 1-year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 18.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.43.

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.