AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Shares Acquired by Santori & Peters Inc.

Santori & Peters Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 245,873 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises approximately 17.0% of Santori & Peters Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Santori & Peters Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $44,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $337,279,000 after buying an additional 918,737 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AME. KeyCorp raised their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

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

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $184.54 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $184.29 and a 200-day moving average of $176.65. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 19.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

AMETEK announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.