AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 310.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,877 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after acquiring an additional 282,208 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after acquiring an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after acquiring an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $993,546,000 after acquiring an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $212.00 price objective on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.89.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $178.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.79. 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 Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

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.