Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 12,045 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 370,717 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,045 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.97% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $83,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 130 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT traded down $2.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $253.92. 344,991 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,248. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $188.71 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The company has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $231.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.56.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The company's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,500,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership 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.