Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Sells 2,157 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC decreased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,157 shares during the quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $12,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AIT. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.14.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT stock opened at $221.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.46. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.68 and a 52 week high of $282.98. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 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 18.64%.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

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.