Legato Capital Management LLC Buys 1,255 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Legato Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 45.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,005 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew 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 worth $249,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 31.1% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:AIT traded up $3.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.85. 201,883 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 669,790. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.71 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.91.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 18.47%.

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