AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) is Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s 8th Largest Position

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,638 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,707 shares during the quarter. AMETEK makes up 1.0% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at about $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $999,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in AMETEK by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,099,000 after buying an additional 67,025 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% during the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $19,752,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AME traded down $2.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $183.52. The stock had a trading volume of 514,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,241. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $183.90 and its 200 day moving average is $176.95.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AMETEK 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.