Smith Salley Wealth Management Purchases 1,899 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,728 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises about 1.5% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management owned approximately 0.06% of AMETEK worth $23,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total value of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock worth $5,707,620. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.44.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.1 %

AME stock opened at $180.74 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $187.17 and a 200-day moving average of $175.12. The company has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

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

AMETEK Company 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.