Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Acquires Shares of 40,440 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 40,440 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $7,290,000. AMETEK comprises about 3.7% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AME traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $180.74. 2,612,857 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 778,650. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The firm's fifty day moving average is $187.17 and its 200-day moving average is $175.25.

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

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

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.