HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,823 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,412 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $9,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AME. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $178.76 on Tuesday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.42. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

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 dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.