Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,973,525 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,981,776 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,973,525 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.29% of AMETEK worth $537,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $997,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 76.2% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in AMETEK by 140.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 45,702 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,847,000 after purchasing an additional 26,723 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $172.60 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 $39.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $181.85 and a 200-day moving average of $181.03. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AME. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 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, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Company 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.