Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $1.09 Million Stock Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 54.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 227,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,338,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter worth approximately $781,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 41.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 18.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (down from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE AIT opened at $225.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.21 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $228.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 8.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.