Short Interest in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Rises By 10.8%

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 616,700 shares, an increase of 10.8% from the November 30th total of 556,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 256,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AIT. Mizuho began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.71.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AIT traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $239.47. The stock had a trading volume of 195,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,257. The business's 50 day moving average is $257.64 and its 200-day moving average is $224.17. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52 week low of $163.50 and a 52 week high of $282.98. 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 company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.05.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies's payout ratio is presently 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total transaction of $605,176.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,441,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $321,542,000 after buying an additional 34,113 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $232,181,000 after purchasing an additional 40,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $127,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,139,000. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.3% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 277,335 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $61,882,000 after buying an additional 23,710 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.