Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 20,800 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,957 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 20,800 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $9,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,124,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at about $342,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in AMETEK by 6.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,434 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,367,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 3.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 70,517 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,108,000 after buying an additional 2,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,451 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,774,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.5 %

AME traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $183.42. 1,041,782 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,456,313. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The stock's 50-day moving average is $183.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.