AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,120 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in 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 raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME opened at $183.08 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.62. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

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

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.