AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.60.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME opened at $157.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.69. The company has a market capitalization of $36.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $697,080,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,038,301,000 after buying an additional 2,371,062 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 393.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,215,087 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $219,030,000 after buying an additional 968,661 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 18,368.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 973,280 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,540,000 after buying an additional 968,010 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in AMETEK by 240.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,805,000 after acquiring an additional 794,473 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.