T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 118.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,657 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,465 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in AMETEK were worth $11,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in AMETEK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in AMETEK by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,277 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,574,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in AMETEK by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the technology company's stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AMETEK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company's stock.

AMETEK Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE AME traded down $2.66 on Thursday, hitting $166.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,861,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,847. The firm has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. AMETEK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.02 and a 52-week high of $198.33. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $170.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.38. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.06. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The business's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AMETEK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.