Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Cuts Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 92.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,400 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,700 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,271,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $304,452,000 after buying an additional 85,270 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,231 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $254,182,000 after purchasing an additional 20,842 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $136,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $129,690,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,217 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,698,000 after buying an additional 11,529 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AIT traded down $13.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $229.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 208,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,076. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $229.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.11. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.35 and a 1 year 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.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective 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, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.14.

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.