United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $885,000 Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,909 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $157.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $174.27 and its 200-day moving average is $179.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 6.30 % 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, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.