Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Shares Sold by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,690 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,205 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 0.33% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $30,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,602 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AIT. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

NYSE AIT traded up $1.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $265.11. 154,800 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 292,983. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $254.29 and its 200-day moving average is $237.99.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.