Banque Pictet & Cie SA Has $31.99 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,456 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,487 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA owned approximately 0.08% of AMETEK worth $31,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings 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 during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $184.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.11. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. 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 previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AME shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.