Brokerages Set AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) PT at $197.86

Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $197.86.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AME shares. Wolfe Research upgraded AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. TD Cowen cut shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AME opened at $193.24 on Tuesday. AMETEK has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $196.70. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. AMETEK’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AMETEK will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value 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 approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,064 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,910 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 1st quarter worth $510,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 90,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.