Natixis Has $12.27 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Natixis increased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,082 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in AMETEK were worth $12,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in AMETEK by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AME shares. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $157.66 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a market capitalization of $36.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.70. 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 (NYSE:AME) last announced 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. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter 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. As a group, analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company 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 0.79%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.