Fiera Capital Corp Decreases Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Fiera Capital Corp reduced its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 127,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,205 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $30,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $84,139,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth about $32,233,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $213,590,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $13,034,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,897,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AIT opened at $263.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $254.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.68 and a 52 week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 18.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.