TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Has $60.02 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 332,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,605 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $60,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 6.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 58.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,198 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 176,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,347,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 8.8% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,784 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter worth $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME opened at $184.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.06 and its 200-day moving average is $177.47. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AME. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.