AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Given New $196.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Truist Financial from $216.00 to $196.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AME. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.78.

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AMETEK Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AME stock traded up $1.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,007,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,065. AMETEK has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $176.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.09. The company has a market cap of $36.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 226.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,614 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 5.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,675 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in AMETEK by 81.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 121,084 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,791,000 after purchasing an additional 54,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Company 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.