The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 49,194 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,429 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 49,194 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of AMETEK worth $25,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in AMETEK by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $288,526,000 after acquiring an additional 703,501 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 366.1% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 261 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,336,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in AMETEK by 27.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,938 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AMETEK by 7.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,373,684 shares of the technology company's stock worth $235,683,000 after buying an additional 96,316 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

Shares of AME stock traded down $2.28 on Tuesday, hitting $167.99. 777,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,633. The firm's 50 day moving average is $169.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.49. AMETEK, Inc. has a one year low of $145.02 and a one year high of $198.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.12. 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 posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from AMETEK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. AMETEK's payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Insider Transactions at AMETEK

In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.64, for a total transaction of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $194.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of AMETEK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AMETEK in a report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on AMETEK from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $197.60.

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.