Banque Pictet & Cie SA Has $31.99 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 177,456 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,487 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $31,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $184.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $183.54 and its 200-day moving average is $177.11. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now 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. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AME. KeyCorp boosted their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.