First Trust Advisors LP Increases Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 51.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,550 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,251 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $17,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $697,080,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 240.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,805,000 after buying an additional 794,473 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 10,506.5% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 476,442 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 471,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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 downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $166.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $172.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.49. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.