Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Stock

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) had its target price hoisted by Oppenheimer from $260.00 to $305.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Applied Industrial Technologies stock traded down $3.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $266.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 68,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,257. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.04. The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Industrial Technologies has a twelve month low of $155.47 and a twelve month high of $276.97.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. This trade represents a 14.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116 in the last 90 days. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at $593,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $1,279,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $790,000. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.