B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 18,925 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,438 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,925 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $7,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AME. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $361,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,155,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 377.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 274,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after buying an additional 217,185 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 13,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME opened at $172.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.06. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 $1,865,318.40. This represents 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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 upped their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

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.