Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Has $132,000 Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 71.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 587 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,470 shares during the quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,155,000 after acquiring an additional 8,760 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,523 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,328 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,980 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AIT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research 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 price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AIT traded up $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $231.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 217,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,042. 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 fifty-two week low of $181.35 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $242.51.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.