AMETEK (NYSE:AME) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $184.13, but opened at $176.00. AMETEK shares last traded at $178.69, with a volume of 449,532 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.50. The stock has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. On average, analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AMETEK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.8% during the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.9% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.