Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Purchases New Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. $AIT

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,417,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.0% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 220,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,288,000 after purchasing an additional 12,504 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,127,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 322,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,040,000 after buying an additional 43,982 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 102.1% during the second quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,716,000 after buying an additional 10,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 11.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 8,523 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.06, for a total value of $2,276,152.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 19,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,147,047.38. This represents a 30.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $243.87 on Thursday. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.96 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $256.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.24.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.16. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 21.86% and a net margin of 8.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Industrial Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.100-10.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 17.71%.

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.