Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIT. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in 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 worth $96,646,000 after purchasing an additional 507,750 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $72,436,000. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,093,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,043,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 310,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,617,000 after acquiring an additional 105,824 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $201.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.59 and a twelve month high of $223.15.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.12. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.86 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AIT. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total transaction of $703,561.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $986,659.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,922,876.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.