Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Reduces Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt cut its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,678,465 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 140,900 shares during the period. AMETEK makes up about 2.5% of Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $482,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter worth $44,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $188.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.03 and its 200-day moving average is $178.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AME. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.