Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $20.60 Million Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,259 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.24% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $20,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,238,000 after purchasing an additional 29,288 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 24.9% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $232,181,000 after acquiring an additional 40,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 105.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,750 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AIT shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 2.2 %

AIT stock traded down $5.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $262.07. The stock had a trading volume of 309,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,830. The company's 50-day moving average price is $253.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.50 and a 12-month high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This 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 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.