Aviva PLC Increases Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 179.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,476 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,499 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.06% of AMETEK worth $25,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth $999,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in AMETEK by 434.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after purchasing an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. lifted its position in AMETEK by 11.3% during the third quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 139,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,942,000 after purchasing an additional 14,105 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AME has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on 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 cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded 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 research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 5.6 %

NYSE AME opened at $152.45 on Monday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.84 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.95. The stock has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

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

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase 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.

About AMETEK

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.