Illumine Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 8,754 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Illumine Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,754 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,578,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $1,053,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,671,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 90,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 30,945 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,578,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Convergence Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 9,694 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AME traded down $3.47 on Tuesday, reaching $183.08. 1,605,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,326,852. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $183.34 and a 200 day moving average of $179.48.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.