AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Community Bank N.A.

Community Bank N.A. trimmed its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 802.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the third quarter valued at about $502,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in AMETEK by 6.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 1,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 276.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $174.50 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $182.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.53. The company has a market cap of $40.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) 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 for 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%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK 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.