Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Has $77.47 Million Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 429,777 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,181 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $77,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Sarl grew its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 62,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in AMETEK by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 260,727 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,986,000 after acquiring an additional 25,657 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in AMETEK by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 183,441 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,067,000 after acquiring an additional 20,690 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 143,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,870,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the period. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at $848,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AME shares. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. BNP Paribas raised 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. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME opened at $157.66 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.02 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.83 and a 200-day moving average of $179.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

About AMETEK

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.