AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Ifrah Financial Services Inc.

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,659 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $183.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho raised 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 upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK 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.