GAMMA Investing LLC Has $167.54 Million Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 18,368.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 973,280 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 968,010 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.42% of AMETEK worth $167,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $697,080,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake 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 worth $1,038,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371,062 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 393.1% in the fourth 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter valued at $114,769,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded AMETEK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial upped 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on AMETEK from $197.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.89.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE:AME traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $176.88. 1,112,258 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,152. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.00. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.02 and a 12 month high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK announced that its board has authorized a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

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.