Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 138,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,930 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $31,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,233,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,279,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $3,591,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT opened at $243.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $256.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.77. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.50 and a 52-week high of $282.98. 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 company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 15.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $605,176.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.67% 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.