Meritage Portfolio Management Has $21.75 Million Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,881 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the period. AMETEK comprises about 1.4% of Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Meritage Portfolio Management owned about 0.06% of AMETEK worth $21,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AME. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total transaction of $5,070,370.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,512 shares in the company, valued at $19,710,045.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total transaction of $5,070,370.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,512 shares in the company, valued at $19,710,045.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total transaction of $1,277,453.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,641.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,881 shares of company stock worth $10,689,758 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE AME traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $177.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 637,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,893. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.77 and a 52-week high of $186.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $180.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.22.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.06. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.91% and a return on equity of 17.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. AMETEK's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AME. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.78.

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.