Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 448,200 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 408,863 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.19% of AMETEK worth $80,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in AMETEK by 226.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in AMETEK by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AMETEK by 5.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,675 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 81.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 121,084 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,791,000 after buying an additional 54,434 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AME opened at $153.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $179.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.