Captrust Financial Advisors Raises Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,782 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 worth $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in AMETEK by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,771 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AME opened at $180.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $168.33 and a 200 day moving average of $179.66.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.90.

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.