Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 536 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,943 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $14,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 154,533 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,856,000 after buying an additional 21,696 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 183,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,992,000 after buying an additional 34,866 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 177,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,988,000 after buying an additional 25,487 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in AMETEK by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its position in AMETEK by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 11,871 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $183.42 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

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

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.