Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 161.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,684 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,562 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $7,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AME. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AMETEK by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,608,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,277,369,000 after purchasing an additional 463,926 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,085,162 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,765,746,000 after buying an additional 870,060 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,972,142 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,452,410,000 after acquiring an additional 134,989 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AMETEK by 2.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,733,274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,321,000 after acquiring an additional 105,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in AMETEK by 19.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,189,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $618,983,000 after acquiring an additional 674,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 $17,178,650.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AMETEK news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 5,973 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,178,650.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total transaction of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,054 shares in the company, valued at $5,066,271.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,881 shares of company stock worth $10,689,758. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.78.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AME opened at $183.72 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.80 and a 200 day moving average of $160.81. The company has a market cap of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.22. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.12 and a 12-month high of $186.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AMETEK’s payout ratio is currently 19.75%.

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.