M.D. Sass LLC Sells 36,777 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

M.D. Sass LLC reduced its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359,328 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 36,777 shares during the quarter. AMETEK makes up 4.9% of M.D. Sass LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $64,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,889 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after buying an additional 282,208 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 116,305 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,965,000 after buying an additional 9,466 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 8,418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $13,851,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of AME opened at $178.99 on Tuesday. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AME shares. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.