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

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME stock opened at $179.38 on Friday. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $183.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.13.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the company 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, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.