Mystic Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 6,494 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. KeyCorp upped 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. BNP Paribas raised 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $178.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $183.08 and its 200 day moving average is $180.42.

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

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK 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.