Korea Investment CORP Acquires 70,795 Shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,498 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,795 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of AMETEK worth $28,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the third quarter worth about $3,724,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $999,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in AMETEK by 6.3% during 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position 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 valued at $97,614,000 after purchasing an additional 440,197 shares during the period. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AMETEK by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 139,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,942,000 after buying an additional 14,105 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Stock Performance

NYSE AME opened at $170.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.03 and a twelve month high of $198.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.80.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 19.83%. AMETEK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. As a group, research 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 stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.41, for a total value of $250,021.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $125,414.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,318.40. This represents a 6.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.67.

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.