Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Stock Price

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $260.00 to $305.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.86.

Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

AIT opened at $266.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $228.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.49. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 22.68%. Applied Industrial Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Industrial Technologies

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,037,221.30. The trade was a 14.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $748,894.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 205,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,602,385.92. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,927 shares of company stock worth $2,439,116. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Industrial Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AIT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 12,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $790,000. 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.