Prudential PLC Sells 13,508 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Prudential PLC cut its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 50.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,261 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,508 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after buying an additional 282,208 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $993,546,000 after buying an additional 124,713 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company's stock worth $795,939,000 after acquiring an additional 99,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at about $697,080,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, 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 through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.6 %

AME stock traded down $0.93 on Friday, reaching $156.49. 654,302 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,270,168. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.18. The company has a market cap of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.