Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Stock Holdings Lifted by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AIT shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded 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. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer increased 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AIT opened at $260.24 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.32 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $257.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.91.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued 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 22.67%. Analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.77 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 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.