Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Shares Sold by Value Holdings Management CO. LLC

Value Holdings Management CO. LLC reduced its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,698 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Applied Industrial Technologies makes up about 3.9% of Value Holdings Management CO. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Value Holdings Management CO. LLC owned about 0.24% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $22,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $321,542,000 after buying an additional 34,113 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $232,181,000 after acquiring an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $127,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $84,139,000. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.3% in the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 277,335 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $61,882,000 after purchasing an additional 23,710 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.7 %

AIT stock traded up $1.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $257.21. The company had a trading volume of 324,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,096. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.14. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.64 and a 52-week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.10%.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.