Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $25.52 Million Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 106,562 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $25,518,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.28% of Applied Industrial Technologies as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,233,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $13,034,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,897,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of AIT traded up $5.81 on Wednesday, hitting $230.26. 275,643 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,158. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The stock's 50 day moving average is $250.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AIT shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.29.

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.