California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 12,213 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 458,713 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,213 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $82,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 24,072 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $795,939,000 after acquiring an additional 99,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $172.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $182.43 and a 200 day moving average of $181.06. 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 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 firm 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 posted $1.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.