Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Coverage Initiated at Raymond James

Research analysts at Raymond James started coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target suggests a potential upside of 13.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AIT. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 24th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $198.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.97. The company has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.53. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $149.59 and a one year high of $223.15.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.12. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 23.55%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total value of $748,894.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total transaction of $703,561.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total value of $748,894.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.