Net Worth Advisory Group Buys 87 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $999,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 434.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 2.5 %

AME stock opened at $179.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.13.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.