AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Position Trimmed by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC lowered its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 359,328 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 36,777 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises approximately 4.9% of M.D. Sass LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. M.D. Sass LLC owned 0.16% of AMETEK worth $64,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in AMETEK by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Down 3.0 %

AME stock traded down $5.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,101,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,605. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK 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.