AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Position Increased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,761,312 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 53,363 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 0.76% of AMETEK worth $317,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AME. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,614,468,000 after acquiring an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,199,454,000 after acquiring an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position 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 worth $1,038,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $993,546,000 after acquiring an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. Morgan Stanley began 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65% 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.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:AME traded down $2.01 on Wednesday, reaching $178.80. The stock had a trading volume of 941,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,288,432. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $168.74 and a 200 day moving average of $179.65. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

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

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.