Ascent Group LLC Raises Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,775 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,701 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $5,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,669,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $275,266,000 after purchasing an additional 167,602 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $1,254,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $768,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,108 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 1st quarter worth $1,676,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,006,454.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $172.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.99. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.89 and a twelve month high of $186.32. The company has a market capitalization of $39.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Redburn Atlantic raised AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on AMETEK from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.29.

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.