IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Purchased by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in IDEX were worth $1,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 305,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,884,000 after purchasing an additional 62,887 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co acquired a new position in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in IDEX by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 3,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in IDEX by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 463,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,975,000 after acquiring an additional 77,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $175.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.25.

IDEX Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of IDEX stock opened at $190.84 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.78. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $153.36 and a 12-month high of $238.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $814.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. IDEX’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is 45.01%.

IDEX Profile

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries.