American Century Companies Inc. Sells 170,492 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 52.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 170,492 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $36,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AIT. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth about $279,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 123.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 40,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,936,000 after purchasing an additional 22,089 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $226,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 3,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $714,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.0 %

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $232.79 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.70.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.29.

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.