Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 125,451 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has increased its stake in AMETEK, Inc. by 51.8% and now owns approximately 367,744 shares valued at over $63 million.
• Several institutional investors, such as DAVENPORT & Co. and Alps Advisors, have also made slight increases to their holdings, reflecting a strong institutional interest in AMETEK.
• AMETEK experienced a decline of 1.3% in share price recently, with a current market capitalization of approximately $40.78 billion.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 51.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 367,744 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 125,451 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of AMETEK worth $63,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AME. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in AMETEK by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,038,301,000 after buying an additional 2,371,062 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $993,546,000 after buying an additional 124,713 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its position in AMETEK by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,770,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $648,979,000 after buying an additional 45,714 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in AMETEK by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,375,972 shares of the technology company's stock worth $428,293,000 after buying an additional 342,589 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.4%

AME traded down $2.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $182.18. 1,725,013 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,423,460. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $179.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.01. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.02 and a 1 year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The technology company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 20.60% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. AMETEK's payout ratio is 20.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AME. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.18.

About AMETEK

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.