Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Makes New $7.29 Million Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 40,440 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,290,000. AMETEK comprises 3.7% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen lowered AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $180.74 on Monday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.