Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Upgraded at Bank of America

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $315.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $285.00. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AIT. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. KeyCorp increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Industrial Technologies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.57.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

AIT stock opened at $278.57 on Tuesday. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1-year low of $155.47 and a 1-year high of $282.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.80. 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 (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 22.68%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 20.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $84,139,000. Dundas Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,805,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,233,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 456.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 130,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,207,000 after acquiring an additional 107,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the third quarter worth $213,590,000. 93.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.