Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 18,752 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 139.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,752 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $7,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,374,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AIT shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp raised their price target 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, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $277.10 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.47 and a twelve month high of $277.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.38.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,922,876.50. This trade represents a 20.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.