Strategic Investment Advisors MI Has $491,000 Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Strategic Investment Advisors MI decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,722 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 454 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in AMETEK by 42.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:AME opened at $184.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.00.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.