AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 72.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.73% of AMETEK worth $288,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 7.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 899 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.6% in the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.8% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,340 shares of the technology company's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AME. TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AMETEK to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded AMETEK to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.9 %

AME stock traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 323,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,145. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day moving average is $170.12 and its 200-day moving average is $169.06. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.12 and a 12 month high of $192.20.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. AMETEK's dividend 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.