AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Purchased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 23.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 355,828 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 67,025 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.15% of AMETEK worth $61,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AME. Czech National Bank lifted its position in AMETEK by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,108 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,353,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 53.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,594 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 1st quarter worth $3,833,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 573.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,754 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 50,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 and hedge funds.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE:AME traded down $1.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $195.10. 748,542 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,154,245. 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 cap of $45.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $178.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.43. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. AMETEK's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other 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 transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,660 shares of company stock worth $5,958,141. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AMETEK to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.