APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires 128,795 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 573.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,258 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 128,795 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.07% of AMETEK worth $26,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AME. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 215.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 327,050 shares of the technology company's stock worth $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 223,400 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 448,200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,795,000 after buying an additional 408,863 shares during the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 686,632 shares of the technology company's stock worth $123,772,000 after buying an additional 48,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after buying an additional 98,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in AMETEK by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 33,302 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,003,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 159,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,273,883. The firm's 50-day moving average is $176.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.07. The company has a market cap of $37.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

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