AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.50.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.2 %

AME opened at $178.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. AMETEK has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The company has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $188.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.63.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620 over the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in AMETEK by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in AMETEK by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 2,974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,330 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $999,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.