AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK (NYSE:AME) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AME. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AME opened at $180.74 on Friday. AMETEK has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. 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’s fifty day moving average is $187.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16.

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

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.8% in the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 0.9% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AMETEK by 1.1% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.