New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Lowers Stock Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,050 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 183,024 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,992,000 after buying an additional 34,866 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 177,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,988,000 after buying an additional 25,487 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 11,871 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $183.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.84. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.03 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.89%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In related news, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,490 shares in the company, valued at $9,750,024.90. This trade represents a 24.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,114. This trade represents a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised their target price on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America raised 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

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.