Raymond James Reiterates "Outperform" Rating for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT)

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by research analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $265.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock, up from their prior price target of $250.00. Raymond James' price target would indicate a potential upside of 2.58% from the company's previous close.

AIT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AIT traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $258.33. 179,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 344,803. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12-month low of $177.68 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $257.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $952,326.96. This trade represents a 38.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,233,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter worth about $1,279,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,591,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. 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.