Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 4,000 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 217,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $52,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,206 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.1% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

AIT opened at $265.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $254.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.68. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. Equities analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value 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 approximately $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AIT shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.