Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 1,984 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $84,139,000. Dundas Partners LLP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,805,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,233,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 456.3% in the third 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. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $213,590,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AIT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital increased 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. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.71.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

NYSE AIT traded down $3.24 on Monday, hitting $258.83. The stock had a trading volume of 390,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,272. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $253.09 and a 200-day moving average of $219.33. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.50 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.57%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.10%.

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.