Portfolio Design Labs LLC Grows Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,871 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,964,236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $337,279,000 after buying an additional 918,737 shares during the period. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,782,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,967,114. The trade was a 18.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tony J. Ciampitti sold 16,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.01, for a total value of $3,193,532.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,750,024.90. This represents a 24.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AME shares. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME opened at $185.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.90 and a 200-day moving average of $176.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.03 and a 52 week high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

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.