Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,724 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $5,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $6,393,000. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $1,171,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,558 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.6 %

AME stock opened at $177.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.44. 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.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.