Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Sells 20,247 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lessened its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 646,182 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 20,247 shares during the period. AMETEK makes up 0.8% of Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC owned about 0.28% of AMETEK worth $116,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 282,208 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% during 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after acquiring an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in AMETEK by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $993,546,000 after acquiring an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Monday, hitting $181.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 894,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,999. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.02 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $168.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.90.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm'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 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. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on AMETEK in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.10.

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.