Commerce Bank Sells 4,688 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Commerce Bank lowered its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,073 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,688 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position 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 worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AME. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas raised 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AMETEK Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE AME traded up $4.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $166.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 451,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,638. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $38.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.41.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK 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.