Vestcor Inc Lowers Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,114 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 162,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,845,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,348 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 34,843 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,983,000 after purchasing an additional 16,999 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 110,625 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of AME opened at $176.35 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $183.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.