Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Makes New $883,000 Investment in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,900 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,198 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in AMETEK by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 176,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,347,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in AMETEK by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,711 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.1 %

AMETEK stock opened at $188.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.16. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on AMETEK from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on AMETEK from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emanuela Speranza sold 6,747 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.90, for a total transaction of $1,321,737.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,967,114. This represents a 18.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.