Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 12,620 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653,148 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,620 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises about 1.2% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.28% of AMETEK worth $117,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,336,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.0% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 33,034 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME opened at $161.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.35 and its 200-day moving average is $180.07. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.