Impax Asset Management Group plc Reduces Stock Holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its stake in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,799,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 92,415 shares during the quarter. IDEX comprises about 1.7% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 2.38% of IDEX worth $376,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of IEX. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 67,650 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,511,000 after buying an additional 14,457 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX in the third quarter valued at about $248,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in IDEX by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 6.7% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 24,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on IEX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $241.71.

IDEX Stock Down 1.1 %

IDEX stock traded down $2.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $193.62. 371,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 524,321. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $207.98 and its 200 day moving average is $211.47. IDEX Co. has a 52 week low of $189.51 and a 52 week high of $246.36. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.97.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.01. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. Analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

About IDEX

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.