Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Raises Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,667 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,130 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,535 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,946,000 after acquiring an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 188.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,749,446 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $315,355,000 after acquiring an additional 69,137 shares during the period. Finally, Seascape Capital Management boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 15,655 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,822,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME traded down $2.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $186.11. 1,202,695 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,323,194. 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 capitalization 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. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $182.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.84. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 18.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.