CX Institutional Buys New Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $225.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.15. The company has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.21 and a 1 year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AIT. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.