Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,353,793 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 369,275 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.59% of AMETEK worth $244,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AME. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction 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 $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on AME
AMETEK Stock Up 1.7 %
Shares of AMETEK stock traded up $2.68 during trading on Monday, hitting $161.63. 219,655 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,274,787. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $176.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.15. The firm has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33.
AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
AMETEK Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.
About AMETEK
(
Free Report)
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.
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