Fmr LLC Sells 68,091 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

FMR LLC decreased its position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,441 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 68,091 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned 0.25% of IDEX worth $40,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IEX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in IDEX by 73.8% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in IDEX during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in IDEX by 100.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in IDEX in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on IEX. Citigroup raised their price objective on IDEX from $251.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus lowered IDEX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IDEX has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.43.

IDEX Price Performance

IDEX stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $229.56. 378,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 483,203. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $219.43 and a 200 day moving average of $208.38. IDEX Co. has a 1-year low of $189.51 and a 1-year high of $246.36. The company has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.96.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. IDEX's payout ratio 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.