Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $3.26 Million Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

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

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter worth about $242,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 238.1% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,530,000 after buying an additional 23,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 38.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,550,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AIT stock opened at $257.21 on Monday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.64 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.08.

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 (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This 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 corporate insiders.

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.