Dundas Partners LLP Boosts Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Dundas Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,812 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,042 shares during the period. Dundas Partners LLP owned approximately 0.06% of AMETEK worth $25,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,583,231,000 after acquiring an additional 24,072 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $924,308,000 after purchasing an additional 45,459 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,415,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $795,939,000 after purchasing an additional 99,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,724,352 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after purchasing an additional 91,287 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AME stock opened at $184.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.93. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. 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 (NYSE:AME) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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.