Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Reduces Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,808 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 897,056 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,556 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in AMETEK by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in AMETEK by 161.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 44,684 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,368,000 after purchasing an additional 27,562 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors grew its holdings in AMETEK by 208.1% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 21,376 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after buying an additional 14,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on AME shares. KeyCorp lifted 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. 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. Truist Financial assumed coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.78.

AMETEK Price Performance

AME stock opened at $179.04 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.12 and a 52-week high of $186.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $178.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.72. The company has a market capitalization of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.22.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last posted 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. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 19.91%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total value of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,066,271.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 27,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.05, for a total value of $5,070,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,710,045.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total value of $252,826.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,066,271.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,881 shares of company stock worth $10,689,758. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.