iA Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires 1,822 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,476 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AME. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 802.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at $502,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 1,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AME. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $176.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.41. 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 fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.