Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 53,606 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.9%, owning 721,573 shares valued at approximately $162.6 million after selling 53,606 shares.
• Applied Industrial Technologies reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 5.5% revenue growth year-over-year.
• The company recently authorized a share buyback plan for 1.5 million shares, a sign that the board believes its stock is undervalued.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 721,573 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 53,606 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.89% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $162,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $455,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,619 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,970,000 after acquiring an additional 3,015 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $67,365,000. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.0% in the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 21,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.8% during the first quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 26,671 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.46, for a total value of $7,000,070.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 149,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,299,448.10. This represents a 15.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jason W. Vasquez sold 7,466 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.08, for a total transaction of $1,941,757.28. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 14,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,768,819.28. This trade represents a 34.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AIT. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Raymond James Financial lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.29.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.2%

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $266.53. The stock had a trading volume of 24,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,568. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $191.31 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.32 and a quick ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $254.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.11.

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

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

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 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 payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.