Jones Financial Companies Lllp Buys 42,473 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp significantly increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by over 3,169%, acquiring an additional 42,473 shares to reach a total of 43,813 shares valued at approximately $9.87 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Applied Industrial Technologies, with major firms like Oppenheimer and Bank of America setting new targets of $300 and $290, respectively, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 18.18%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 3,169.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,813 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,473 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp owned about 0.12% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $9,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 133 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:AIT traded down $6.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $263.03. 166,022 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 200,452. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $199.96 and a one year high of $282.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $263.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a current ratio of 3.32.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 8,523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.06, for a total value of $2,276,152.38. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,147,047.38. This trade represents a 30.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 26,671 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.46, for a total transaction of $7,000,070.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 149,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,299,448.10. This represents a 15.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,660 shares of company stock valued at $11,217,980 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.