abrdn plc Acquires 41,992 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 57.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 115,151 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 41,992 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $18,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,691 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after buying an additional 3,063 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 29,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,866,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 221.2% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 14,496 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 9,983 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total transaction of $2,938,308.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,138,983.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total value of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,066,271.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total transaction of $2,938,308.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,709 shares in the company, valued at $17,138,983.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 0.9 %

AMETEK stock opened at $178.25 on Thursday. AMETEK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.12 and a twelve month high of $186.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.07. The firm has a market cap of $41.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. AMETEK’s payout ratio is 19.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Truist Financial started coverage on AMETEK in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.78.

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.