AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lowered its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,594 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,363 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $8,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after acquiring an additional 282,208 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $993,546,000 after buying an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $795,939,000 after buying an additional 99,505 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK 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 value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AME traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $177.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,461,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,713. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.86. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $173.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.46.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 16.75%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AME. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho set a $212.00 price target on AMETEK in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.89.

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.