California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 12,213 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 458,713 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,213 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of AMETEK worth $82,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 377.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 274,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after acquiring an additional 217,185 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in AMETEK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 13,999 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,243,000. DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 127,344 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,955,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted 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, 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $172.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.03 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.06.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

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.