Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 48.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AIT. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 9,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.0% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% in the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 4,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total value of $364,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 57,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,642.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $186.09. The stock had a trading volume of 288,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,512. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.21. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $122.24 and a one year high of $201.76. The firm has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 24.59%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 15.53%.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.