Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 71,007 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 81.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,185 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,007 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.07% of AMETEK worth $28,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AMETEK by 1.1% in the 4th 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 boosted its position in AMETEK by 1.1% during the fourth 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. grew its stake in AMETEK by 3.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,985,350 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,199,454,000 after purchasing an additional 250,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of AMETEK by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,760,017 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,526,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $993,546,000 after purchasing an additional 124,713 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial increased their target price on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AMETEK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.60.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of AMETEK stock traded down $2.28 on Tuesday, reaching $167.99. 777,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,633. The firm's 50 day moving average is $169.80 and its 200-day moving average is $179.49. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33. The firm has a market cap of $38.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. AMETEK's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. The trade was 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 currently owned by company 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.