AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Short Interest Down 23.0% in March

by · The Cerbat Gem

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decrease of 23.0% from the March 15th total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AME. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in AMETEK by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 30,505 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,250,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the first quarter valued at $206,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 25.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,670 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,643 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 1st quarter valued at about $293,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.60.

View Our Latest Report on AME

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $2.29 on Monday, hitting $155.52. 762,334 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,420,213. AMETEK has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $174.27 and its 200 day moving average is $179.77.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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