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

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

AIT has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT traded down $1.01 on Thursday, reaching $243.45. The company had a trading volume of 326,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,895. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $255.44 and a 200-day moving average of $220.57. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $163.50 and a one year high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

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 shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value 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. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AIT. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter worth about $243,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,690,000. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $539,000. 93.52% of the stock is 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.