Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,038 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,606 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $24,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th 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. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on 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 raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.78.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $151.30 on Wednesday. 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 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.47. The stock has a market cap of $34.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

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

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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.