Short Interest in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Decreases By 7.5%

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the January 15th total of 2,130,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AMETEK stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $184.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,104,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,408. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $42.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $183.06 and a 200 day moving average of $177.47. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AMETEK will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AME. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.