Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Stock

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.43% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $258.38. 281,112 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 3.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.08. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12 month low of $177.68 and a 12 month high of $282.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $257.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.91.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, 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 value of $605,176.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total transaction of $1,126,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. The trade was a 6.70 % 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 156.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,109 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 45,224 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,233,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,279,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,591,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted 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 worth $981,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the period. 93.52% of the stock is currently 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.