Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 30.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 217,223 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 97,070 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.09% of AMETEK worth $39,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th 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. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.
AMETEK Stock Performance
NYSE:AME opened at $179.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.13. The stock has a market cap of $41.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.
AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
AMETEK Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.
Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK
In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently commented on AME. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AMETEK
About AMETEK
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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