Vident Advisory LLC Has $1.24 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,887 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 728 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 313,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,584,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in AMETEK by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,794 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in AMETEK by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 139,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,172,000 after purchasing an additional 9,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,387,670 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $250,142,000 after buying an additional 194,635 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.4%

AME opened at $177.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.02 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AME. Mizuho set a $212.00 price objective on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.89.

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.