Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires New Position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,219,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after acquiring an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 46,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,053,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 160.6% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 3,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,155,000 after buying an additional 8,760 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIT. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $236.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.35 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $226.47 and its 200 day moving average is $245.96.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Industrial Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 18.47%.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Industrial Technologies 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.