AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,566 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,198 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted 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 during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.0 %

AMETEK stock opened at $184.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $183.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.93. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AME shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Bank of America raised 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. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

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.