Aquatic Capital Management LLC Takes $7.38 Million Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,935 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $7,379,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AME. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in AMETEK during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,724,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,009 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $999,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $97,614,000 after acquiring an additional 440,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AME. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AME traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $169.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,654,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,603. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.45. The stock has a market cap of $39.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is 20.91%.

AMETEK declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.