Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,621 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,157 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $3,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,928,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $429,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AIT. Raymond James lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

AIT traded up $1.67 on Monday, reaching $257.21. The company had a trading volume of 324,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,096. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.64 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $259.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.40.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.