Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts have also issued 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 company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho started coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $240.58 on Thursday. 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 12-month low of $163.50 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $255.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.18. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. This represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,238,000 after purchasing an additional 29,288 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 24.9% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,181,000 after purchasing an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 105.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.