New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,038 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 174,377 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,038 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of AMETEK worth $31,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in AMETEK by 87.9% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $337,279,000 after purchasing an additional 918,737 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in AMETEK by 434.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.4 %

AME stock traded up $4.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.82. 1,104,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,333,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $182.97 and a 200-day moving average of $177.69. 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 issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. AMETEK's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

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

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.