ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 13,061 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,469 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,061 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $15,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $999,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,099,000 after purchasing an additional 67,025 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% in the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 36.5% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 74,757 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,837,000 after buying an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.2 %

AME traded up $4.00 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $184.73. 2,765,926 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,735. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.95 and a 200 day moving average of $175.35. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

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 0.61%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.44.

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.