AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Now Covered by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AMETEK (NYSE:AME) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $170.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME opened at $158.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.79. AMETEK has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. 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 (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AMETEK will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,336,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in AMETEK by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 33,034 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.