State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Position in AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,943 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,129 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.05% of AMETEK worth $20,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AME. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AMETEK during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AMETEK in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in AMETEK during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut AMETEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on AMETEK from $192.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on AMETEK from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on AMETEK in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.78.

AMETEK Stock Performance

AMETEK stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $177.91. 998,698 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 936,581. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.59. AMETEK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.12 and a 12-month high of $186.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $179.97 and its 200-day moving average is $165.07.

AMETEK (NYSE:AME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. AMETEK had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 19.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AMETEK, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AMETEK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from AMETEK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. AMETEK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.75%.

Insider Activity at AMETEK

In related news, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of AMETEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total transaction of $2,938,308.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,138,983.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AMETEK news, Director Steven W. Kohlhagen sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.59, for a total transaction of $252,826.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,066,271.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO William Joseph Burke sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.51, for a total value of $2,938,308.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 101,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,138,983.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,881 shares of company stock valued at $10,689,758. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.