Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Invests $4.93 Million in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,585 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,929,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.05% of Applied Industrial Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of 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. 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, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT traded up $5.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $221.83. 666,665 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 299,902. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.35 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $226.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.84.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 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.