AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stake Lessened by Monte Financial Group LLC

Monte Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,966 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $187.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.47 and a 200 day moving average of $175.84. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.04. The company 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%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.44.

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.