Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Increases Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,972 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AMETEK by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,331,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,028,000 after buying an additional 39,918 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15,294 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 28,095 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AME. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $185.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.