Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 3,415 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,415 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AME. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 88,898 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,025,000 after purchasing an additional 12,584 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 8,418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,331,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,028,000 after purchasing an additional 39,918 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 199,631 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AME shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $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.

AMETEK Price Performance

AMETEK stock opened at $180.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.25 and its 200 day moving average is $179.74. 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 $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.