State of Michigan Retirement System Has $11.31 Million Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,753 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $11,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AME. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $185.07 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $183.34 and its 200 day moving average is $179.66. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

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.