Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $813,000 Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 315.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,540,000 after purchasing an additional 9,667 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 46,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,053,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,238,000 after buying an additional 29,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reiterated 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered 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 research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.14.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $238.61 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.35 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.88. 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 (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 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, 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. 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 currently 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.