Polen Capital Management LLC Has $4.44 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,352 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $4,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth about $32,233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth about $3,591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT traded down $1.83 on Thursday, reaching $228.43. 396,471 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 260,788. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company's 50 day moving average is $249.72 and its 200-day moving average is $243.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 announced 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 a positive change 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.