Neuberger Berman Group LLC Reduces Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 834,423 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 65,116 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $150,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 573.4% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 151,258 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,331,000 after buying an additional 128,795 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in AMETEK by 215.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 327,050 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 223,400 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 448,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,795,000 after acquiring an additional 408,863 shares during the last quarter. Maren Capital LLC raised its stake in AMETEK by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 686,632 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,772,000 after acquiring an additional 48,170 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 98,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Up 6.4 %

AME opened at $161.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $37.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.02 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.27.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased 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 cut their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised 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 report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.78.

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.