AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK (NYSE:AME) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.50.

AMETEK Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:AME opened at $176.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $187.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AME. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in AMETEK by 226.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Company Profile

AMETEK, Inc manufactures and sells electronic instruments and electromechanical devices in the North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and c devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and sensors for gas turbines and dashboard instruments; heavy trucks, instrumentation, and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry.