Quest Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Quest Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 43.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,256 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40,507 shares during the period. Quest Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $8,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the first quarter worth $37,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the first quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $171.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.33. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $136.89 and a 12-month high of $186.32.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 19.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AMETEK from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.29.

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.