Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AIT. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $420.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $400.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AIT opened at $293.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.87. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $238.72 and a 1 year high of $374.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.68% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, CFO David K. Wells sold 1,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.10, for a total value of $643,441.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,380,955. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter C. Wallace sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $648,216.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,782,346.55. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,336,805,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,672,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 978,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $259,706,000 after buying an additional 249,961 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the second quarter valued at $70,948,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,539,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc (NYSE: AIT) is a distributor and value-added service provider of industrial motion, power transmission, fluid power, automation, and control products. Its offerings include bearings, mechanical power-transmission components, motors, gearboxes, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, industrial hoses, process pumps, safety products, and related maintenance supplies.

The company also provides technical and engineering services designed to help customers improve equipment performance, reliability, and productivity.