Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

AIT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $232.00 target price for the company. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $231.32 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52-week low of $149.59 and a 52-week high of $240.45.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 23.55%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,922,876.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at $3,922,876.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total transaction of $703,561.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,927 shares of company stock worth $2,439,116. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter worth about $39,000. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.