Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys Shares of 5,535 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,535 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $998,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in AMETEK by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AME. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.20.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME traded up $2.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.15. 1,160,346 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,036. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.02 and a 1 year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average is $170.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.35. The company has a market capitalization of $39.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.