UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,485 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 11,764 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.23% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $20,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AIT. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,866,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AIT. KeyCorp reduced their price objective 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIT traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $226.80. 368,637 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 310,363. 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 50-day moving average of $226.25 and a 200-day moving average of $244.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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.