AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

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

AMETEK Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $176.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 933,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,737. AMETEK has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $182.92 and a 200 day moving average of $180.80.

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

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AMETEK

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in AMETEK by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.