AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Bought by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors raised its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 70.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned about 2.49% of AMETEK worth $1,038,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $697,080,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 240.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 10,506.5% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 476,442 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 471,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 434.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME traded up $2.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $162.18. 1,755,359 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,293,886. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $37.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.17 and a 200 day moving average of $179.53.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.