Smith Group Asset Management LLC Buys 749 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 749 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter valued at about $19,263,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

AIT opened at $233.32 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $215.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.03. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.59 and a fifty-two week high of $240.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.53.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 8.61%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.51%.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,602,385.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.