Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Shares Sold by Value Holdings Management CO. LLC

Value Holdings Management CO. LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Applied Industrial Technologies comprises about 3.9% of Value Holdings Management CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Value Holdings Management CO. LLC owned about 0.24% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $22,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter valued at about $242,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 8.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 238.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 23,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in 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 worth $3,550,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AIT stock traded up $1.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $257.21. 324,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 322,096. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.64 and a twelve month high of $282.98. 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 capitalization of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.88.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 15.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AIT shares. StockNews.com raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.71.

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.