AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Shares Down 6.6%

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) shares fell 6.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $161.96 and last traded at $162.44. 1,635,438 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 73% from the average session volume of 944,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp upped their price target on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.78.

AMETEK Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.94.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 17.74%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total value of $5,070,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,710,045.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total value of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,066,271.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total value of $5,070,370.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,710,045.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,881 shares of company stock worth $10,689,758. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AME. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $589,098,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in AMETEK by 19.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,189,108 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $618,983,000 after buying an additional 674,549 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4,845.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 677,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,643,000 after buying an additional 663,385 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,248,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,081,557 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $159,811,000 after buying an additional 496,523 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.