Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 16,660 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 601,011 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 16,660 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of AMETEK worth $108,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AME. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE AME traded down $0.36 on Tuesday, reaching $161.00. The stock had a trading volume of 170,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,273,932. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.02 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.07. The company has a market capitalization of $37.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

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.