Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 6,842 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Headlands Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,520 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,842 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% in 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AME opened at $172.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.