Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,770 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 6,115 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,562,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in AMETEK by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 67,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,122,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,400,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,671,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock opened at $184.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $183.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.93. 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 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. StockNews.com raised AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective 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 issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.