Focus Partners Wealth Invests $307,000 in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,283 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,672,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake 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 valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital dropped 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set 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, KeyCorp dropped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

NYSE AIT traded up $7.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $230.35. 430,150 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 308,824. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.82. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.35 and a 1 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. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.47%.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Company 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.