New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,825 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 11,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of AMETEK worth $31,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AME. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 8,667 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in AMETEK by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,130 shares of the technology company's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,535 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,946,000 after acquiring an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AMETEK by 188.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,749,446 shares of the technology company's stock worth $315,355,000 after buying an additional 69,137 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME traded down $2.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $186.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,202,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,068. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $182.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.06.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally 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 given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is presently 18.89%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Company 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.