Brokerages Set Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Price Target at $291.43

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $291.43.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

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 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 directly owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after buying an additional 45,224 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 19.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of AIT opened at $245.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $253.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.52. Applied Industrial Technologies has a twelve month low of $177.68 and a twelve month high of $282.98.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 22.37%. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.64%.

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.