Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Trims Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 105,485 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,526 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $19,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in AMETEK by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AME shares. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $171.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.09. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

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

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

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.