Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Reduces Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,109 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,130 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $20,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. State Street Corp raised its position in AMETEK by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,583,231,000 after purchasing an additional 24,072 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 250,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AMETEK by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $924,308,000 after buying an additional 45,459 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 87.9% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $337,279,000 after buying an additional 918,737 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AME shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $184.54 on Monday. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. 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 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 18.89%.

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.