AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation decreased its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 57.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,700 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 136,152 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $337,279,000 after acquiring an additional 918,737 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 10,506.5% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 476,442 shares of the technology company's stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 471,950 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter worth approximately $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 434.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $97,614,000 after purchasing an additional 440,197 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME stock traded down $2.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $186.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,108,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,892. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's 50 day moving average is $183.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.31. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16.

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

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.