Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,294 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $5,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,922,876.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,922,876.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total value of $748,894.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of AIT stock traded up $3.26 on Friday, hitting $268.27. 147,316 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 286,971. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $221.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.40. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $155.47 and a one year high of $269.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is currently 15.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AIT. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital lifted 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $261.43.

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.