Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 474.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,950 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 58,601 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $12,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AME. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in AMETEK by 34.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,602,753 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $600,615,000 after buying an additional 926,657 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the third quarter worth $79,782,000. Finally, James Hambro & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at $60,188,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded AMETEK to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,958,141. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.4 %

AME stock traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $194.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,098,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,244,436. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $179.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

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.