Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 5,835 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 54.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,835 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,271,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,452,000 after purchasing an additional 85,270 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,182,000 after purchasing an additional 20,842 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $129,690,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 510,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,315,000 after purchasing an additional 56,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on 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. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $225.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.27. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $182.21 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly 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. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 8.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.47%.

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.