Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 925 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Carret Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,825 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $248,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 506,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,005,000 after purchasing an additional 5,375 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 162,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,845,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 156,603 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE AME opened at $172.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.14. 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 fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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 issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.