AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Stock Holdings Increased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,126 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $12,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.9% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,526 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $372,000. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 19.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,535 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in AMETEK by 12.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $170.25 on Monday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.60 and a 200-day moving average of $181.03.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 0.73%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.