Board of the Pension Protection Fund Invests $541,000 in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 366.1% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David F. Hermance sold 6,243 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.99, for a total transaction of $1,192,350.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,015,253.69. This trade represents a 14.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,200 shares of company stock valued at $5,707,620. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.5 %

AME stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $180.02. The stock had a trading volume of 683,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,255. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $187.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.04. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on AMETEK from $166.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AMETEK to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.50.

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.