QRG Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,302 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,081 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in AMETEK by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company's stock worth $61,099,000 after acquiring an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 115,033 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,752,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $184.12. 1,624,437 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,354,111. 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 company has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $183.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.69. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. 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. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.