Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 3,455 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,711 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,455 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $288,526,000 after purchasing an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 276.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,668 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in AMETEK by 4.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 321,680 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,351,000 after buying an additional 14,663 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 2.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AME. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AMETEK stock opened at $175.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $182.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.76. The company has a market cap of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.