Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 21,011 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 432,790 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,011 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.19% of AMETEK worth $78,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AME. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised shares of 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AME opened at $177.22 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $183.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.44. The company has a market cap of $40.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. 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 (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.