Northern Trust Corp Grows Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,375,972 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 342,589 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.03% of AMETEK worth $428,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,724,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in AMETEK by 17.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at $999,000. Czech National Bank lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,987 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 440,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $216.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AMETEK in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AMETEK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMETEK

In related news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total transaction of $250,021.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK 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 $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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AME traded up $2.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,160,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,036. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.02 and a 52 week high of $198.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. This is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

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

About AMETEK

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.