Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 186 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,275,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,443,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $249,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AME. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Truist Financial initiated coverage on AMETEK in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total value of $1,008,839.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,178,650.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Thomas M. Montgomery sold 6,891 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.38, for a total transaction of $1,277,453.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,993,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.90, for a total value of $1,008,839.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,178,650.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,881 shares of company stock worth $10,689,758 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME opened at $177.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.13. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.12 and a 1-year high of $186.32. The company has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.22.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 19.91%. AMETEK’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.75%.

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.