Truist Financial Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,368 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,558 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in AMETEK by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE AME opened at $186.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $182.95 and its 200 day moving average is $178.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $43.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. 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 yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK 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 sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.