Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 6,909 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 46.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,923 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,909 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in AMETEK by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AME. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.8 %

AMETEK stock traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,586,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,470. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $182.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.80. The company has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. AMETEK's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Profile

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.