Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,133,952 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 87,757 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.92% of AMETEK worth $384,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of AMETEK by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 217 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 366.1% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AMETEK Trading Up 0.2 %

AME traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $167.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 210,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,291,162. The business's 50-day moving average is $172.42 and its 200-day moving average is $179.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $38.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.02 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33.

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.91%.

AMETEK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.