AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,082 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,521 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AME. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $185.56. 1,139,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,379,602. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.24. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $183.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.89%.

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.