AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 68.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,582 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 149,404 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $11,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,965 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,241 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 84.3% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in AMETEK by 5.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 66,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,514 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

NYSE AME opened at $169.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $179.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.69. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $136.89 and a 1 year high of $186.32.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.74% and a net margin of 19.57%. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total value of $1,277,453.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,543 shares in the company, valued at $3,993,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total value of $1,277,453.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,641.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total transaction of $5,070,370.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,710,045.60. 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. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $173.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.80.

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.