AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Purchased by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,344 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned 0.06% of AMETEK worth $22,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in AMETEK by 434.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 11.3% in the third quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 139,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,942,000 after buying an additional 14,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $170.25 on Friday. 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 $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $182.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. 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 0.73%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. 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. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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 that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.