Insider Selling: AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Director Sells 1,320 Shares of Stock

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) 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 value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock traded down $1.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $183.21. 334,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,321,526. The business's 50-day moving average is $183.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.66. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $697,080,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in AMETEK by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,038,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,062 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 393.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,215,087 shares of the technology company's stock worth $219,030,000 after purchasing an additional 968,661 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% during the third 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. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 240.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $202,805,000 after buying an additional 794,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.