Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Raises Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,698 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $184.54 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $184.10 and a 200-day moving average of $176.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.