State of Alaska Department of Revenue Reduces Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,770 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $184.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.65. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $149.03 and a one year high of $198.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.39.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company 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.