Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $3.35 Million Investment in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,400 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,350,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.05% of Applied Industrial Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 963.2% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 202 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.34, for a total value of $364,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 57,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,421,642.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $189.16. The company had a trading volume of 225,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,123. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50-day moving average price is $189.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.71. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $122.24 and a one year high of $201.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Applied Industrial Technologies's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is presently 15.53%.

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.