BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 173,237 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 48.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 529,065 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 173,237 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.23% of AMETEK worth $95,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after buying an additional 282,208 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $993,546,000 after buying an additional 124,713 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AME shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.60.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $170.19 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $169.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.49. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. 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 (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. 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 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

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.

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