New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,377 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,038 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of AMETEK worth $31,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $337,279,000 after acquiring an additional 918,737 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter worth $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,782,000. 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 buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $183.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $183.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.24. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. 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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial raised 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. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total transaction of $3,193,532.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,750,024.90. The trade was a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.