Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 480 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 34.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,155,000 after acquiring an additional 8,760 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $225.05 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $227.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.15. The company has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.93. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $182.21 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AIT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.