Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,387,670 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 194,635 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.60% of AMETEK worth $250,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $697,080,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in 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. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AMETEK by 393.1% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,215,087 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $219,030,000 after buying an additional 968,661 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 240.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,125,068 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $202,805,000 after buying an additional 794,473 shares during the period. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $114,769,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AME traded down $3.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $177.67. 1,270,590 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,395. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.02 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The company has a market cap of $41.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

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

AMETEK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AME shares. Mizuho set a $212.00 target price on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.10.

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.