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

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

AIT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp lifted 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $0.26 on Wednesday, reaching $253.08. 265,608 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,001. The company has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $166.37 and a one year high of $282.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $259.84 and a 200 day moving average of $228.23.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 8.57% and a return on equity of 22.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.