Gotham Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 120.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,950 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,156 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,672,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings 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 worth $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased 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. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

AIT traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $222.98. The stock had a trading volume of 272,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,263. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $226.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.54. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.35 and a one year 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.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 18.47%.

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

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.