Mystic Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.17 Million Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,494 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $178.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.42. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33. 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 $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.