AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. reduced its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 99,909 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,896 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $883,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AMETEK by 92.3% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 12,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,253,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in AMETEK by 261.9% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 80,543 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,519,000 after buying an additional 58,285 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $186.11 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho boosted 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price 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 issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.