AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AME. TD Cowen cut AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lifted 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 upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.50.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME stock opened at $176.26 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.73. The company has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. AMETEK has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AMETEK

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in AMETEK by 226.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.