Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 199.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 309,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 206,220 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.81% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $74,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AIT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $129,690,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 404,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,934,000 after buying an additional 134,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,518,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,271,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $304,452,000 after buying an additional 85,270 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,933,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp lowered their target price on 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. Loop Capital lowered their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:AIT traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $227.79. 723,005 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,559. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.35 and a 1-year high of $282.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $228.31 and a 200 day moving average of $246.12.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.64%.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.