National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 142,093 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 21,009 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $25,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $161.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.90. The stock has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned 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 target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, 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 value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Company 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.