BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 6,961 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,961 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $3,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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 valued at $304,452,000 after buying an additional 85,270 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $254,182,000 after buying an additional 20,842 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $136,803,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $129,690,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $122,315,000 after buying an additional 56,732 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $232.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.78. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.35 and a one year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,500,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AIT. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their price target 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, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.