National Pension Service Sells 335,585 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

National Pension Service lessened its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 55.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 273,369 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 335,585 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.12% of AMETEK worth $49,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AME. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:AME traded down $2.99 on Monday, hitting $186.31. 1,108,155 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,319,707. The company has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $183.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.31.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded 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. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

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.