ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 3,063 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,691 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,063 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 84.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.3 %

AMETEK stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $177.77. The stock had a trading volume of 806,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.98. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.12 and a fifty-two week high of $186.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.22.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 19.91%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 19.75%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total transaction of $2,938,308.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,138,983.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AMETEK news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total value of $2,938,308.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,138,983.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total value of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,066,271.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AME. Truist Financial began coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. KeyCorp raised their target price on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.78.

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.