HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,823 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,412 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,823 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $9,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.8 %

AME stock traded down $1.43 on Friday, reaching $174.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,422,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,432. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.41. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $40.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a PEG 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.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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 issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.