Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 827 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 16.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 51.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $228.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $226.09 and a 200-day moving average of $243.17. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.35 and a 52-week high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.93.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AIT shares. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

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.