Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 282,208 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.30% of AMETEK worth $4,713,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $337,279,000 after acquiring an additional 918,737 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 794,473 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 471,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,782,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

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AMETEK Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of AME stock traded down $5.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $170.25. 1,101,493 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,226,604. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $182.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.80. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its board has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.