Eagle Asset Management Inc. Acquires 17,082 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,448 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,082 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of IDEX worth $12,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in IDEX by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 223,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in IDEX by 247.0% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 198,170 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,872,000 after purchasing an additional 141,064 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in IDEX in the 2nd quarter worth $3,627,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in IDEX by 162.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 101,558 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,433,000 after purchasing an additional 62,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in IDEX in the 1st quarter worth $11,765,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on IEX shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus downgraded shares of IDEX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IDEX currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $241.14.

IDEX Trading Up 2.2 %

IDEX stock traded up $5.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.50. The stock had a trading volume of 409,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,295. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $189.51 and a 52-week high of $246.36. The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $215.08 and a 200 day moving average of $207.87.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.72%.

IDEX Company 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.