Aviva PLC Increases Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 179.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 139,476 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 89,499 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $25,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’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 value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AMETEK Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $152.45 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.84 and a 52-week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company 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%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

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.