Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 14,689 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,504 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,689 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $7,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position 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 buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth 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 position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.48. 1,394,719 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,380,140. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.73 and a 200 day moving average of $177.05. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33.

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

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, 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 value of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AME shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

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.