StockNews.com Upgrades AMETEK (NYSE:AME) to “Buy”

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

Several other analysts have also weighed in on AME. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.50.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $178.27 on Thursday. AMETEK has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm 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 fifty day simple moving average of $188.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.63.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AMETEK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AME. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the third quarter worth $3,724,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,099,000 after acquiring an additional 67,025 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 36.5% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 74,757 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,837,000 after acquiring an additional 20,001 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 2.9% in the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 11.3% during the third quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 139,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,942,000 after purchasing an additional 14,105 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.