AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners trimmed its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,113,158 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 574,082 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.91% of AMETEK worth $380,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $1.43 on Friday, reaching $174.50. 1,422,601 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,636. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $182.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.43. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

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.