Grace & White Inc. NY Sells 3,800 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Grace & White Inc. NY cut its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Applied Industrial Technologies makes up about 6.6% of Grace & White Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Grace & White Inc. NY owned about 0.38% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $35,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $32,233,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 456.3% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 130,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,207,000 after purchasing an additional 107,365 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,590,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $13,034,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AIT. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 1.0 %

AIT stock opened at $259.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.68 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.61.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

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.