Brokerages Set Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) Price Target at $284.29

Shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $284.29.

Several research analysts have recently commented on AIT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,271,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $304,452,000 after buying an additional 85,270 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $254,182,000 after acquiring an additional 20,842 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $129,690,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 510,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,315,000 after purchasing an additional 56,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of AIT stock opened at $226.40 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $237.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.78. Applied Industrial Technologies has a one year low of $177.68 and a one year high of $282.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 22.37% and a net margin of 8.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Applied Industrial Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Applied Industrial Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Applied Industrial Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

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.