Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 635,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 52,620 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.64% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $109,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AIT. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,080,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,460,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 8.6% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $973,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $187.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.23. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.83 and a twelve month high of $201.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 23.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jason W. Vasquez sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.71, for a total transaction of $127,861.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,461.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.