Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

AIT stock opened at $253.08 on Wednesday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a twelve month low of $166.37 and a twelve month high of $282.98. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,542,000 after acquiring an additional 34,113 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,181,000 after buying an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,032,000 after buying an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $84,139,000. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 277,335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,882,000 after buying an additional 23,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.