AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank lessened its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,675 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,508 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $10,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,498,000. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,270 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,899,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1,279.6% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 293,811 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,962,000 after purchasing an additional 272,514 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $7,661,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 91,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,512,000 after purchasing an additional 10,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE: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 firm has a market cap of $39.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.35. 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 (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated 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 on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.20.

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.