Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT Stock Position Decreased by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0%, owning 144,055 shares valued at approximately $32.5 million after selling 7,532 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors hold 93.52% of Applied Industrial Technologies stock, with several boosting their stakes significantly in recent quarters, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which increased its stake by nearly 34,003% in the first quarter.
• The company's recent earnings report showed $2.80 EPS, exceeding expectations, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,532 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.38% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $32,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 510,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $122,315,000 after acquiring an additional 56,732 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 471,333 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,870,000 after acquiring an additional 33,842 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 379,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,374 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 34,002.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 318,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $716,990,000 after acquiring an additional 317,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 199.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 309,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,145,000 after acquiring an additional 206,220 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AIT shares. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $258.9290 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $191.31 and a 12 month high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 8.61%.Applied Industrial Technologies's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. Applied Industrial Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.000-10.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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