AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 11.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,856 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,648 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AME. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 15,950.0% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AME. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $212.00 price target on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.89.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $176.72 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.02 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $171.32 and its 200 day moving average is $178.31. The stock has a market cap of $40.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

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.