Olympiad Research LP Purchases New Shares in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,322 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.4 %

AME stock opened at $186.11 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.95 and a 200-day moving average of $178.36. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

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

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.