Paloma Partners Management Co Buys Shares of 42,500 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 42,500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $7,661,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 70 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AME. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.20.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AME traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $170.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,160,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,035. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $170.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.35. The company has a market cap of $39.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

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

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

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

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.