Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 16,491 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 526,882 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 16,491 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.23% of AMETEK worth $95,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in AMETEK in the third quarter worth $3,724,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $999,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in AMETEK by 434.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,614,000 after purchasing an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, 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 value 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. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade 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 owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AME traded down $0.45 on Monday, reaching $166.24. 953,457 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,412,595. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $172.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.56.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.