Metis Global Partners LLC Has $3.40 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,862 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in AMETEK by 5.9% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,183 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in AMETEK by 12.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 36,695 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,301,000 after acquiring an additional 4,022 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in AMETEK by 0.8% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 37,595 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,455,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 8.2% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,811,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.0 %

AME stock opened at $189.18 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16.

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

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

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.