Prospector Partners LLC Makes New $8.81 Million Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Prospector Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 51,300 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,809,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 34.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,602,753 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,615,000 after buying an additional 926,657 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth approximately $60,188,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $40,811,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,006,454.91. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,913 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,404. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.1 %

AMETEK stock opened at $197.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.91. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AME shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen cut AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Redburn Atlantic raised AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

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.