Aristides Capital LLC Invests $297,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,242 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.29.

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Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 2.6 %

AIT stock traded up $5.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $226.40. The company had a trading volume of 370,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,665. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.62. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

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.