Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 600 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,289 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on AMETEK in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Trading Down 1.7%

AME opened at $177.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. 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 $145.02 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.60 and its 200 day moving average is $179.91.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.