Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys Shares of 144,457 Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 144,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,233,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.2% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 630,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,398,000 after buying an additional 7,720 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,805,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 221,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,495,000 after purchasing an additional 49,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 18.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 204,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,659,000 after buying an additional 31,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,922,876.50. The trade was a 20.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $277.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.03. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.47 and a 1-year high of $277.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $237.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.10.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.10%.

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.