Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Grows Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,972 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,331,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,028,000 after purchasing an additional 39,918 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15,294 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 28,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AME. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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 on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $185.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.66. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company 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%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.