Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,689 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,974 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,689 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned 0.25% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $22,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 176,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,192,000 after buying an additional 4,538 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,219,000. Maven Securities LTD acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,242,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AIT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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 reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of AIT traded down $4.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $228.92. The company had a trading volume of 356,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,181. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $226.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.96. The company has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.35 and a 1-year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 18.47%.

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

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.