Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $114,000 Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 663 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 15,950.0% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $212.00 price target on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.89.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $177.32 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.11. The firm has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. 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 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.