AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 6.2% from the February 13th total of 1,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 945,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gretchen W. Mcclain sold 2,720 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $382,486.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,676.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Gretchen W. Mcclain sold 2,720 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $382,486.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,676.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 780 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.54, for a total value of $107,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,207,601.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,440 shares of company stock worth $2,507,660 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,306 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 84,481 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,251,000 after acquiring an additional 9,510 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 1st quarter worth approximately $591,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,974 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 85.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AMETEK from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on AMETEK from $160.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded AMETEK from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on AMETEK from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.11.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.6 %

AME stock opened at $134.99 on Friday. AMETEK has a twelve month low of $106.17 and a twelve month high of $148.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $31.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $142.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.21.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The technology company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.05. AMETEK had a return on equity of 18.46% and a net margin of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 19.96%.

About AMETEK

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AMETEK, Inc engages in the manufacture of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices. It operates through the following two segments: Electronic Instruments (EIG) and Electromechanical (EMG). The EIG segment designs and manufactures advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power and industrial markets.