Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 14,576 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 413,302 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 14,576 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of AMETEK worth $74,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % 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, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $170.25 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year 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 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $182.60 and its 200-day moving average is $180.92. The company has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

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

AMETEK 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.