AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $194.71 and last traded at $194.71, with a volume of 165933 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $194.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.86.

AMETEK Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $172.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.55.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in AMETEK in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 168.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.