Mizuho Securities USA LLC Reduces Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,014 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,830 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the second quarter worth $39,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 168.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the second quarter worth about $50,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.8 %

AMETEK stock opened at $197.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $197.83.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total transaction of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. This trade represents a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % 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 insiders.

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.