Buffington Mohr McNeal Has $10.37 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Buffington Mohr McNeal decreased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,872 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,775 shares during the period. AMETEK accounts for about 2.1% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $10,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,660 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,919 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $179.81. 271,439 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 943,023. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.72. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.12 and a 1-year high of $186.32. The company has a market cap of $41.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 19.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.78.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, 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 value of $1,008,839.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of AMETEK 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 directly owns 21,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,993,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 directly owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,178,650.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.