TCW Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

TCW Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,909 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,896 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AMETEK by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,220,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,583,231,000 after buying an additional 24,072 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,401,656 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $924,308,000 after purchasing an additional 45,459 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,724,352 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after purchasing an additional 91,287 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $337,279,000 after purchasing an additional 918,737 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total value of $1,321,737.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.4 %

AME stock opened at $186.11 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.21. The stock has a market cap of $43.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.89%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Company 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.