Maren Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Maren Capital LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 686,632 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 48,170 shares during the quarter. AMETEK comprises 9.5% of Maren Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Maren Capital LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $123,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,614,468,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in AMETEK by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 33,302 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,003,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in AMETEK by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 138,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,892,000 after acquiring an additional 15,606 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its holdings in AMETEK by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 2,190 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 179.1% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 139,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,142,000 after purchasing an additional 89,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AMETEK Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of AME opened at $152.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $180.56 and its 200-day moving average is $180.95. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.84 and a 12 month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AME. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.