Florida Financial Advisors LLC Sells 296 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Florida Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,360 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 802.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 6.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 1,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 276.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 60.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 108,341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,603,000 after buying an additional 40,616 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME opened at $178.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.71. The firm has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% 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.