AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Holdings Lessened by First National Advisers LLC

First National Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,556 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,553 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in 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 during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during 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, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $176.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 864,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,970. The company has a market cap of $40.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.44.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Company 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.