Axa S.A. Purchases 31,480 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

AXA S.A. increased its position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 619.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,560 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,480 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $6,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AME. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AMETEK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,147,772 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,713,397,000 after buying an additional 282,208 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in AMETEK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,956,329 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,614,468,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AMETEK by 3.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $993,546,000 after purchasing an additional 124,713 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AME traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,257,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,289,223. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $168.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.47. The company has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. AMETEK's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Analysts expect that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. AMETEK's payout ratio is 20.29%.

AMETEK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AME. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $196.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by 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.