Semanteon Capital Management LP Invests $223,000 in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,237 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 802.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth $502,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 1,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 276.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 1,462 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $174.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.43. 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 $40.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.03 and a 12-month high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

AMETEK 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.