Banco Santander S.A. Sells 4,421 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Banco Santander S.A. cut its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,764 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,421 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $7,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 8.6% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,108 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 53.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,594 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in AMETEK during the first quarter worth about $3,833,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in AMETEK by 573.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,754 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 50,878 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in AMETEK by 68.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,132 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,362,000 after acquiring an additional 61,677 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME traded up $1.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,052,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,819. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $176.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.70. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $197.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,006,454.91. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AMETEK to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.29.

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.