Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,751 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.09% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $8,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,542,000 after buying an additional 34,113 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,181,000 after buying an additional 40,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,803,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $84,139,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $224.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $248.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.96. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76.

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, beating 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. 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%.

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.