Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 121 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 379,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,869,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 320,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,174,000 after buying an additional 10,667 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 34,002.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 318,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $716,990,000 after buying an additional 317,247 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,365,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.6% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 227,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,338,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 26,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.46, for a total value of $7,000,070.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 149,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,299,448.10. This represents a 15.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 8,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.06, for a total transaction of $2,276,152.38. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,273 shares in the company, valued at $5,147,047.38. This trade represents a 30.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,660 shares of company stock worth $11,217,980. 1.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $290.00 target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT stock opened at $269.74 on Friday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.71 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $263.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.78. The stock has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.20. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Industrial Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.000-10.75 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

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.