Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 102,711 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,455 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth $999,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in AMETEK by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,099,000 after buying an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AME opened at $175.52 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 is an increase 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 yield of 0.71%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of 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 assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.