AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $221.00 to $222.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. 1,445,585 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 935,288 shares.The stock last traded at $182.03 and had previously closed at $180.86.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.44.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the third quarter worth about $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $999,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,099,000 after acquiring an additional 67,025 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 36.5% during the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 74,757 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,837,000 after acquiring an additional 20,001 shares during the period. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 2.9% during the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.98. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

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.