Barclays PLC Buys 45,224 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.19% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $16,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.9% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,394 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,374,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,158 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:AIT traded down $5.93 on Friday, hitting $262.07. The stock had a trading volume of 309,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,830. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.50 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $253.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.12. The stock has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. The business 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%. Applied Industrial Technologies's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.