Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has $315.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $285.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lifted 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.57.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AIT stock opened at $280.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.03. Applied Industrial Technologies has a twelve month low of $155.47 and a twelve month high of $282.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.39.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s payout ratio is 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at $3,922,876.50. This trade represents a 20.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $593,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 20,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.