Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 1,672 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,837 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. AMETEK comprises approximately 1.4% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc. owned about 0.06% of AMETEK worth $22,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in AMETEK by 48.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,075,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,294,121,000 after buying an additional 2,306,535 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,602,753 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,615,000 after acquiring an additional 926,657 shares during the period. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter worth about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 256.3% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 976,808 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $162,844,000 after buying an additional 702,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, James Hambro & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,188,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME opened at $178.43 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $186.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $169.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.92.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AME. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AMETEK from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AMETEK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.