Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Short Interest Update

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 616,700 shares, a growth of 10.8% from the November 30th total of 556,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 256,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AIT shares. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.71.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. This trade represents a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AIT. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter worth $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, reaching $239.47. 195,230 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 286,257. The company has a 50 day moving average of $257.64 and a 200 day moving average of $224.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 2.74. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52 week low of $163.50 and a 52 week high of $282.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.10%.

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.