First Merchants Corp Has $4.96 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

First Merchants Corp grew its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,793 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $4,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EWA LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. EWA LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 3.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $180.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.86. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.02 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $41.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.10.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 16.75%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.