AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,133,952 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 87,757 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.92% of AMETEK worth $384,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after acquiring an additional 250,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $993,546,000 after acquiring an additional 124,713 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company's stock worth $795,939,000 after acquiring an additional 99,505 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AMETEK Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of 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. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $173.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.53. 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 PE ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % 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.

AMETEK Company 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.