CenterBook Partners LP Sells 3,184 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

CenterBook Partners LP reduced its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 50.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,099 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,184 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in AMETEK were worth $559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% during the 4th 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 position in AMETEK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% in the fourth 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 position in AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the 4th 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. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AME. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $160.23. 758,131 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,277,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock's fifty day moving average is $176.35 and its 200 day moving average is $180.07. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% 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.