Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,391,380 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 213,868 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.60% of AMETEK worth $250,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,009 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in AMETEK by 434.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in AMETEK by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 88,898 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,025,000 after acquiring an additional 12,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 8,418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.60.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AME opened at $170.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $169.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.02 and a 52 week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. 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 0.73%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

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.