AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Trading Down 6.6%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AMETEK Stock Performance

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

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 17.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total value of $1,008,839.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,178,650.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total transaction of $1,277,453.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,993,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total value of $1,008,839.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,178,650.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 6.6% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,040 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,477 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 15,442 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in AMETEK by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,435 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,934 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.