AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

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

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AME opened at $172.60 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $181.85 and a 200 day moving average of $181.03. 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 has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in AMETEK by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $997,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 76.2% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 264,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,352 shares in the last quarter. 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.