DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 1,087 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 127,344 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $22,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $170.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.80.

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 return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s 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.