Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 2,749 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $3,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of 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 worth $2,672,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in 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, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital reduced 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued 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 decreased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT traded down $3.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $229.79. 324,030 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 311,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.93. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.35 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $226.47 and a 200-day moving average of $241.96.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. Applied Industrial Technologies's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities research 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, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.