Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 28,700 Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 185,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 28,700 shares during the period. Applied Industrial Technologies makes up approximately 1.5% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $36,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Paralel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 86.8% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,951,000 after purchasing an additional 20,889 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 27,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jason W. Vasquez sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.71, for a total value of $127,861.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,461.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

AIT stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $192.89. 102,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 308,149. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 2.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.13. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $138.38 and a one year high of $201.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.08. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 23.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.51%.

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.