Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 51.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 117,302 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.29% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $19,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.5% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 9,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.0% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.8% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.2 %

AIT opened at $197.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.24 and a 1-year high of $201.76. The company has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.36.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.13. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.42 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $182.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 57,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,421,642.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% 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.