AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $221.00 to $222.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 1,445,585 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the previous session’s volume of 935,288 shares.The stock last traded at $182.03 and had previously closed at $180.86.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AMETEK

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $187.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.02.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. AMETEK’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

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.