Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Price Target Raised to $275.00 at Robert W. Baird

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) had its price objective boosted by Robert W. Baird from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of AIT stock opened at $263.46 on Thursday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $176.32 and a fifty-two week high of $282.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $257.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.78. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.08.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. Equities analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.10%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value 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. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 57.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,120,000 after purchasing an additional 19,169 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,839 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.