MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,972 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,004 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $10,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,271,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $304,452,000 after purchasing an additional 85,270 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,231 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $254,182,000 after acquiring an additional 20,842 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $136,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $129,690,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 404,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $96,934,000 after purchasing an additional 134,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.14.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT stock traded up $7.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $229.71. The company had a trading volume of 632,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,506. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.68 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $231.19 and a 200-day moving average of $245.46.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase 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 0.80%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 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.