Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 4,800 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,249 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $8,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 2.1% during the fourth 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 period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth 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. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:AME opened at $176.35 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.