Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also commented on AIT. Raymond James started coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Wednesday. They set an outperform rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a neutral rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $223.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock opened at $193.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.03. Applied Industrial Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $149.59 and a fifty-two week high of $223.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $200.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.04.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 8.61%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.51%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the company’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 $41,602,385.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,922,876.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 3,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,927 shares of company stock worth $2,439,116. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,072,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $875,912,000 after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 947,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,575,000 after purchasing an additional 21,276 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 630,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,398,000 after purchasing an additional 7,720 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 978.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 559,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,646,000 after purchasing an additional 507,750 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 559,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,540,000 after purchasing an additional 11,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.