AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Position Lifted by Portfolio Design Labs LLC

Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 36.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,871 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $185.56 on Wednesday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $183.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $42.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its board 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.