AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the January 15th total of 2,130,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMETEK

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in AMETEK by 62.6% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.3 %

AME opened at $184.01 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.47. AMETEK has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $42.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AMETEK will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.