Voya Investment Management LLC Acquires 10,661 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Free Report) by 85.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,094 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,661 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $5,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AIT. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,238,000 after purchasing an additional 29,288 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 382 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 933 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 202,050 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $48,540,000 after purchasing an additional 9,667 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.79. The stock had a trading volume of 723,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,811. The business has a fifty day moving average of $228.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.20. The firm has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.35 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is presently 18.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AIT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective 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. KeyCorp decreased 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.00.

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.