AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Bought by Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 10,506.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 476,442 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 471,950 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of AMETEK worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % 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. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AME. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $2.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $186.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,202,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,323,194. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $182.98 and its 200 day moving average is $177.84. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. AMETEK's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

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.