Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,233,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 456.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 130,895 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,207,000 after buying an additional 107,365 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $213,590,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $13,034,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AIT stock traded up $1.60 on Tuesday, hitting $260.06. The company had a trading volume of 119,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,897. The firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day moving average is $257.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.91. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.68 and a twelve month high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 14.99%.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $291.43.

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.