AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK (NYSE:AME) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $185.98 on Tuesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.25. The company has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AMETEK will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.