Capital Investment Services of America Inc. Sells 175 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Capital Investment Services of America Inc. decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,809 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Capital Investment Services of America Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $4,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in AMETEK by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 6,375 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 10,910 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME opened at $180.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About AMETEK

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.