AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $180.74. 2,156,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,057,703. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.02. AMETEK has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AMETEK

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in 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 during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in AMETEK by 62.6% in 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 during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AMETEK

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.