Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Has $2.24 Million Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE reduced its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 44.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,401 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,733 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AME. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.6 %

AMETEK stock opened at $176.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $182.92 and a 200-day moving average of $180.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released 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. The business 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%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

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.