Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,717 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,833 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned 0.05% of AMETEK worth $22,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $697,080,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 240.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company's stock worth $202,805,000 after buying an additional 794,473 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 10,506.5% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 476,442 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 471,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $97,614,000 after purchasing an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME traded down $1.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $160.23. 758,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,276,223. The company has a market capitalization of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $176.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.07.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. AMETEK's payout ratio is 20.91%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AME. 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 research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

About AMETEK

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.