Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Reduces Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,109 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,130 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $20,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth $999,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company's stock worth $61,099,000 after buying an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,752,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE:AME traded down $0.93 on Thursday, reaching $184.57. 855,274 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.11. The firm has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's payout ratio is 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.