Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Invests $1.60 Million in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,864 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AME. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,713,397,000 after buying an additional 282,208 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,614,468,000 after buying an additional 98,546 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after buying an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in AMETEK by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after buying an additional 2,371,062 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $993,546,000 after acquiring an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $171.57 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 cap of $39.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.36. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.29%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% 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.