Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 6,721 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,607 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,721 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises approximately 3.2% of Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of AMETEK worth $69,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in AMETEK by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,583,231,000 after purchasing an additional 24,072 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $924,308,000 after acquiring an additional 45,459 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $337,279,000 after acquiring an additional 918,737 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,882,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $313,777,000 after acquiring an additional 148,447 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AME opened at $180.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.94. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This represents a 14.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620 in the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.44.

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.