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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 142,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,811 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.37% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $34,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.9% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $245.73 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.68 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $254.09 and a 200-day moving average of $238.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

Insider Activity at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AIT. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

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.