Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Has $161.57 Million Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 979,840 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 60,193 shares during the period. AMETEK makes up about 0.9% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.42% of AMETEK worth $161,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in AMETEK by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,189,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $618,983,000 after purchasing an additional 674,549 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,098,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,586,030 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $426,410,000 after acquiring an additional 252,455 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in AMETEK by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,362,467 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $349,078,000 after buying an additional 96,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in AMETEK by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,701,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $280,573,000 after buying an additional 255,193 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of AMETEK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $173.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.64.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AMETEK stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,030,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,707. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.46 and a 200 day moving average of $168.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.21. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $136.89 and a 52-week high of $186.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.11.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.05. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 17.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,470 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $250,194.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,579.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 shares were sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total transaction of $1,277,453.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $250,194.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,249 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,579.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,941 shares of company stock valued at $6,992,804. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.