LexAurum Advisors LLC Grows Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,773 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $190.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $186.64 and its 200 day moving average is $175.58.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

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.