Swiss National Bank Sells 1,100 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $16,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 97.5% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter worth $38,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AIT. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Raymond James Financial downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AIT traded up $3.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $258.87. The company had a trading volume of 105,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,823. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.94. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $191.31 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $251.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.10.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 8.61%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is 18.18%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback 1,500,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are 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.