Brokerages Set Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Target Price at $285.71

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $285.71.

AIT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,233,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $1,279,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter worth about $3,591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT stock opened at $271.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.05. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12 month low of $163.50 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $249.42 and a 200-day moving average of $217.26. 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 (NYSE:AIT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 22.68%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Industrial Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.10%.

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.