Marshall Wace LLP Grows Holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 300.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,219 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,419 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in AMETEK were worth $3,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,724,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in AMETEK by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 142,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,009 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter worth $999,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,153 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of AMETEK by 434.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 541,517 shares of the technology company's stock worth $97,614,000 after buying an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 10,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AME has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley started 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. Truist Financial cut their price target on AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.60.

AMETEK Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AME stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $169.35. 462,743 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,295,630. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $170.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.38. The company has a market cap of $39.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.02 and a 1-year high of $198.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

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

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. This is an increase from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AMETEK's payout ratio is currently 20.91%.

AMETEK Company 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.