AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 246,210 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,613 shares during the period. AMETEK makes up approximately 1.4% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $44,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in 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 period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during 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 in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AME. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.20.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.7 %

AME opened at $170.15 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.35.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

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

Insider Activity at AMETEK

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

AMETEK Company 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.