Flossbach Von Storch SE Boosts Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,724,352 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 91,287 shares during the quarter. AMETEK makes up approximately 2.7% of Flossbach Von Storch SE's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned approximately 1.61% of AMETEK worth $671,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in AMETEK by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,434 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 58.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,198 shares of the technology company's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in AMETEK by 2.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 176,737 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,347,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 8.8% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,784 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter worth about $101,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AME traded down $2.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $186.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,202,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,323,194. The stock has a market cap of $43.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $182.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.89%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board 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.