Truist Financial Corp Sells 5,558 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,368 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,558 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,099,000 after purchasing an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $186.11 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 18.89%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upped their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.