AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 240.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,125,068 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 794,473 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.49% of AMETEK worth $202,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. State Street Corp increased its position in AMETEK by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,583,231,000 after purchasing an additional 24,072 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $924,308,000 after purchasing an additional 45,459 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company's stock worth $795,939,000 after buying an additional 99,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its stake in AMETEK by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,724,352 shares of the technology company's stock worth $671,352,000 after acquiring an additional 91,287 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,586,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,470. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.80. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.