Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,930 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $31,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 68.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $261.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total transaction of $748,894.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total transaction of $748,894.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,602,385.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total value of $703,561.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company's stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $2.60 on Tuesday, reaching $272.60. 178,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 287,390. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.47 and a 52 week high of $275.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $224.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.03.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The business's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.10%.

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.