Grace & White Inc. NY Cuts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Grace & White Inc. NY lessened its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,150 shares during the quarter. Applied Industrial Technologies comprises 4.8% of Grace & White Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Grace & White Inc. NY owned about 0.41% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $27,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. FMR LLC lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,625,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,329,000 after acquiring an additional 451,876 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 425,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,755,000 after buying an additional 208,315 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 547,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,718,000 after buying an additional 128,629 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 241,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,094,000 after buying an additional 100,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 750,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,099,000 after buying an additional 98,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.31. The stock had a trading volume of 257,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $190.16 and its 200 day moving average is $174.99. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $122.24 and a one year high of $201.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.13. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total transaction of $364,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 57,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,642.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.20% 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.