StockNews.com Downgrades AMETEK (NYSE:AME) to Hold

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on AME. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $175.52 on Wednesday. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $182.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.