SYM FINANCIAL Corp Purchases New Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. $AME

SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,817 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the second quarter worth $295,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 162,555 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,415,000 after purchasing an additional 48,207 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 533.3% in the 2nd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 10,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 8,756 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 35.2% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,942 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,599,000 after purchasing an additional 8,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK in the second quarter worth about $73,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, insider Thomas C. Marecic sold 14,310 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total transaction of $2,892,194.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,589 shares in the company, valued at $8,607,662.79. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David A. Zapico sold 28,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.76, for a total transaction of $5,727,966.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 137,088 shares of company stock valued at $27,212,340 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AME shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on AMETEK from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $271.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.82.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $226.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $207.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.57. The company has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.04. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.02 and a fifty-two week high of $226.68.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The technology company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 16.66%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.56%.

About AMETEK

AMETEK, Inc is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices that serves a broad range of industries. Headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, the company designs and produces precision instruments, electronic measurement devices, specialty sensors, and electric motors and motion control systems. Its product portfolio includes analytical and monitoring instruments, calibration equipment, power supplies, embedded electronics, and industrial motors and drives used for critical applications.

The company operates through two primary business platforms — an electronic instruments group focused on analytical, test and measurement and sensor products, and an electromechanical group that supplies motors, actuators, and related power and motion solutions.