Benjamin Edwards Inc. Makes New $458,000 Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,775 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,919 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AME traded up $3.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $166.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,065,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 972,476. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.94. The company has a market capitalization of $38.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.59. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $136.89 and a one year high of $186.32.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.91% and a return on equity of 17.96%. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.78.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total value of $1,008,839.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,178,650.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total transaction of $252,826.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,066,271.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total transaction of $1,008,839.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,178,650.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.