AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) is HCR Wealth Advisors’ 9th Largest Position

HCR Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,672 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 17,700 shares during the period. AMETEK comprises 2.1% of HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in AMETEK were worth $17,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 87.9% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $337,279,000 after acquiring an additional 918,737 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter worth approximately $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.5 %

AME stock opened at $180.02 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.94. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. 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, November 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.