Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 373 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,392 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 373 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AME. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter worth approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th 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. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 355,828 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,099,000 after purchasing an additional 67,025 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME opened at $172.54 on Friday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $183.15 and its 200 day moving average is $180.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $39.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 9th. KeyCorp raised their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

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.