Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 352 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,998 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $7,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AME. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $178.99 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.71. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.