Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New $1.80 Million Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,803,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,614,468,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in AMETEK by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $993,546,000 after purchasing an additional 124,713 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $180.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $168.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.66.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AME shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.