First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,498 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $185.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.88 and its 200 day moving average is $178.55. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33. 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 (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

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.