AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $215.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AMETEK traded as high as $197.41 and last traded at $196.81, with a volume of 112024 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $195.76.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AME. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted 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 buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in AMETEK during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.49. The stock has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

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.