StockNews.com Lowers Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) to Hold

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AIT. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital increased 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 began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $198.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.53 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.97. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 12 month low of $149.59 and a 12 month high of $223.15.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.12. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 8.61%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. Applied Industrial Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In related news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total value of $986,659.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at $3,922,876.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.02, for a total value of $703,561.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.10, for a total transaction of $986,659.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,922,876.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,927 shares of company stock worth $2,439,116 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 120.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 3,424 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $357,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.