Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $770,000 Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,274 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $1,124,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth $342,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 6.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 70,517 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 11,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $184.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $183.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.84. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.