Allstate Corp Purchases Shares of 6,898 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,898 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,243,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,583,231,000 after buying an additional 24,072 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,199,454,000 after acquiring an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $924,308,000 after acquiring an additional 45,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in AMETEK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $795,939,000 after purchasing an additional 99,505 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AME. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $170.25 on Monday. 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 one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $182.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.03.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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