Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 99 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,478 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in AMETEK by 34.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,602,753 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,615,000 after purchasing an additional 926,657 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,188,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,811,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,660 shares of company stock worth $5,958,141 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $195.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.43. 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 (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AMETEK from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho increased 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.29.

About AMETEK

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.