Franklin Resources Inc. Has $235.68 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 7.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,373,684 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,316 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $235,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in AMETEK by 223.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 67,858 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,313,000 after acquiring an additional 46,903 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in AMETEK by 11.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 172,180 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,762 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in AMETEK by 38.0% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 118,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,738,000 after buying an additional 32,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 59.9% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after buying an additional 4,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $187.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.08. 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 $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.15. 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 for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.59, for a total value of $250,521.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,006,454.91. This trade represents a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,660 shares of company stock worth $5,958,141. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AME. TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of AMETEK to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

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.