AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Position Cut by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC lowered its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359,328 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 36,777 shares during the quarter. AMETEK makes up approximately 4.9% of M.D. Sass LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. M.D. Sass LLC owned approximately 0.16% of AMETEK worth $64,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 802.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in AMETEK by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 1,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 276.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 108,341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,616 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Up 2.6 %

AME opened at $178.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.71.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous 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. Analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.