Natixis Has $12.27 Million Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Natixis grew its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 68,082 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in AMETEK were worth $12,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $999,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in AMETEK by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,041,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AMETEK by 434.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME opened at $157.66 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.70. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 20.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AME shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.60.

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.