Rhumbline Advisers Has $80.05 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 444,088 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,749 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of AMETEK worth $80,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AME shares. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lifted 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. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $188.76. 1,036,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,326,846. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.77.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.