Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 40,220 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,941 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 40,220 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.05% of AMETEK worth $21,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in AMETEK by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,972 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AMETEK by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,331,567 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $240,028,000 after acquiring an additional 39,918 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15,294 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the technology company's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

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Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's 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 $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $179.16 on Wednesday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. 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 50-day moving average price of $183.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.

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