Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 6,348 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 513,044 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,348 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of AMETEK worth $92,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.1 %

AME stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.48. 1,394,719 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,380,140. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $183.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.