Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Shares Purchased by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,155,000 after purchasing an additional 8,760 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:AIT opened at $227.21 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $226.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.35 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.47%.

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.