Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AIT. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $232.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.14.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

AIT traded down $3.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $226.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 238,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,765. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 52-week low of $149.59 and a 52-week high of $235.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $213.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.03.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 23.55%. Applied Industrial Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total transaction of $748,894.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,708 shares in the company, valued at $41,602,385.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.24, for a total value of $748,894.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $593,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 232.6% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 69,901 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,809,000 after acquiring an additional 48,883 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 18.3% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 185,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 28,700 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,279,000. 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.

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