Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 703,501 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 72.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $288,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 7.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AMETEK by 1.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.8% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AME opened at $188.95 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.52 and a 12 month high of $192.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of AMETEK 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AME shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen cut AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.86.

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.