FORA Capital LLC Sells 23,428 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

FORA Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 90.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,611 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 23,428 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Fullcircle Wealth LLC bought a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $206,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 1,230.9% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 235,910 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,525,000 after acquiring an additional 218,185 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in AMETEK by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 52,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,525,000 after purchasing an additional 25,238 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.90.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $171.69 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $168.51 and a 200-day moving average of $179.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the 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 owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.