Smith Salley Wealth Management Boosts Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,728 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. AMETEK comprises approximately 1.5% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $23,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 3.8% during the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE AME opened at $180.74 on Friday. The stock 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. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. 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 fifty day moving average price is $187.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.12.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. The trade was a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. 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.