Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) VP Kurt W. Loring Sells 4,858 Shares

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,922,876.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $198.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.59 and a 1-year high of $223.15.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 8.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 15.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AIT. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.00.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,072,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $875,912,000 after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 947,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,575,000 after acquiring an additional 21,276 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 630,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,398,000 after acquiring an additional 7,720 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 978.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 559,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,646,000 after acquiring an additional 507,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 559,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,540,000 after purchasing an additional 11,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% 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.