ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,780 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,311 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $15,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 15,950.0% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AME shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. 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 report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho set a $212.00 price target on shares of AMETEK in a report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.89.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE AME traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $184.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 719,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,780. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $176.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.41 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. The company has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.09.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 20.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

AMETEK 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.