Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

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

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AIT. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James increased their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AIT opened at $243.45 on Thursday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $163.50 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.78 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $255.44 and a 200 day moving average of $220.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

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 the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,709 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $34,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 68.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second 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.