Brokerages Set AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Price Target at $197.60

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $196.90.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,484,263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,559,001,000 after acquiring an additional 336,491 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after buying an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in AMETEK by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in AMETEK by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after buying an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $993,546,000 after buying an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $179.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.40 and its 200-day moving average is $179.65.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AMETEK will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

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.