Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Sells 2,100 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 90.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,100 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in AMETEK were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $999,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake 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 worth $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research note on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

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Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $161.28. 132,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,273,775. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $176.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.07. 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 market cap of $37.22 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.