Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,023,724 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 89,265 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.44% of AMETEK worth $197,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in AMETEK by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $184.12 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. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.03 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.82.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.