AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 32.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,955,301 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,394,058 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $850,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 8.6% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 53.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the first quarter valued at $3,833,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in AMETEK by 573.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,754 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 50,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,362,000 after purchasing an additional 61,677 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AME opened at $195.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.16. 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’s 50-day moving average is $175.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.49. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $196.70.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 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 firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

AMETEK 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.