Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 5,200 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,200 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd owned 0.06% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $5,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AIT. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,166 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,023,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $129,690,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 33,930 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 238,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,227,000 after purchasing an additional 58,140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AIT. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT traded up $2.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.21. The stock had a trading volume of 46,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,335. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $246.21 and a 200 day moving average of $245.73. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Industrial Technologies's 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.