Haverford Trust Co Lowers Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Haverford Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,097 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AME. 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AMETEK by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $795,939,000 after purchasing an additional 99,505 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $179.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $182.98 and a 200 day moving average of $180.83. The company has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 company’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% 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.