AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Purchased by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,362 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,404 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter worth approximately $2,336,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,938 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.0% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 33,034 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,672,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $166.81. The stock had a trading volume of 711,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,283. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $172.08 and its 200-day moving average is $179.41. 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 firm has a market cap of $38.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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, 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

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.