Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 35,466 AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 35,466 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,171,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in AMETEK by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in AMETEK by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 36,507 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,581,000 after acquiring an additional 5,126 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME opened at $175.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.57 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $183.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.03 and a 1 year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 0.70%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.