AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Holdings Boosted by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,373,684 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 96,316 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.59% of AMETEK worth $235,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,602,753 shares of the technology company's stock worth $600,615,000 after acquiring an additional 926,657 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $337,279,000 after buying an additional 918,737 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at about $79,782,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $187.38. 827,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,149,380. The company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's 50 day moving average is $183.21 and its 200 day moving average is $173.08. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.29.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,006,454.91. This trade represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,958,141. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AMETEK 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.