Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,898 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,243,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $697,080,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 87.9% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $337,279,000 after buying an additional 918,737 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 240.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $202,805,000 after buying an additional 794,473 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 10,506.5% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 476,442 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 471,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME stock traded down $9.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.45. 2,753,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,246,566. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day moving average price is $180.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AME. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.