Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Purchases 3,833 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,717 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,833 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned 0.05% of AMETEK worth $22,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in AMETEK by 3,116.7% in 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 during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Truist Financial decreased their target price on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.78.

AMETEK Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:AME opened at $157.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.02 and a 12-month high of $198.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.18. 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 (NYSE:AME) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% 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.