Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $23.20 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,728 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the quarter. AMETEK accounts for about 1.5% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management owned about 0.06% of AMETEK worth $23,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AME. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $337,279,000 after purchasing an additional 918,737 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 434.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $180.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,612,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,650. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $187.17 and its 200-day moving average is $175.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.