Wall Street Zen Downgrades Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) to Hold

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

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AIT. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $320.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Applied Industrial Technologies Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AIT stock opened at $260.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $188.71 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.17.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Industrial Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback 1,500,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Applied Industrial Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AIT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $129,690,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies by 452.6% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 436,565 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $98,376,000 after acquiring an additional 357,568 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 34,002.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 318,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,990,000 after purchasing an additional 317,247 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Applied Industrial Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $67,365,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 199.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 309,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,145,000 after buying an additional 206,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.52% of the company’s stock.

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.