AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Director Thomas A. Amato Sells 710 Shares of Stock

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

AMETEK Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE AME opened at $170.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.80. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in AMETEK by 23.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,099,000 after buying an additional 67,025 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 434.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.