AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) Position Cut by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 56,578 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,627 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $10,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,713,397,000 after purchasing an additional 282,208 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 116,305 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,965,000 after buying an additional 9,466 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its position in AMETEK by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 8,418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,584 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $13,851,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in AMETEK by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 149,668 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $176.90 on Thursday. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.80.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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 20.91%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

About AMETEK

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.