Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $291.43.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AIT shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Applied Industrial Technologies from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Industrial Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upgraded Applied Industrial Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Read Our Latest Report on Applied Industrial Technologies

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, VP Warren E. Hoffner III sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.64, for a total value of $1,126,560.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 55,709 shares in the company, valued at $15,689,882.76. This represents a 6.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Dean Hall sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.08, for a total value of $605,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,462 shares in the company, valued at $952,326.96. The trade was a 38.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.67% of the company's stock.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 186 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.52% of the company's stock.

NYSE:AIT opened at $265.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $254.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.68. Applied Industrial Technologies has a 1 year low of $177.68 and a 1 year high of $282.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 expect that Applied Industrial Technologies will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Industrial Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Applied Industrial Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.64%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.

Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.

They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...

See The Five Stocks Here

Before you consider Applied Industrial Technologies, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Applied Industrial Technologies wasn't on the list.

While Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.