Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $262.53 and last traded at $258.76, with a volume of 18016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Up 13.7 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $219.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.52.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 22.68%. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,037,221.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 3,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 19,315 shares in the company, valued at $4,037,221.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt W. Loring sold 4,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 19,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,922,876.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,927 shares of company stock valued at $2,439,116 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter worth approximately $232,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 239.6% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 23,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 16,256 shares in the last quarter. 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.