StoneX Group Inc. Has $5.95 Million Stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

StoneX Group Inc. reduced its stake in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,008 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc.’s holdings in AMETEK were worth $5,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AMETEK by 72.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,680,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,526,000 after buying an additional 703,501 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in AMETEK by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,526 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AMETEK in the 3rd quarter worth about $372,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in AMETEK by 12.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of AMETEK by 416.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 87,178 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,969,000 after purchasing an additional 70,297 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMETEK Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AME stock opened at $172.05 on Tuesday. AMETEK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.03 and a fifty-two week high of $198.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.06. The company has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.14.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. AMETEK had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 16.94%. AMETEK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AMETEK, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

AMETEK announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.91%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, Director Thomas A. Amato sold 710 shares of AMETEK 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,865,318.40. This trade represents a 6.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 22,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,512.89. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AMETEK from $221.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on AMETEK from $200.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised AMETEK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.67.

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.