AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,113,158 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 574,082 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 0.91% of AMETEK worth $380,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.5 %

AME stock opened at $178.76 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 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.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.