Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Makes New $883,000 Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,900 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $188.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-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) last issued its quarterly 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. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.66%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.