AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Holdings Boosted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 68,304 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,455 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $12,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 7.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 9.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 68,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,711,000 after acquiring an additional 5,873 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the third quarter worth about $248,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $179.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.13.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS 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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AME shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.