CX Institutional Lowers Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

CX Institutional lowered its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 71.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,067 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in IDEX were worth $76,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of IDEX by 81.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in IDEX by 63.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in IDEX by 970.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at IDEX

In other news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total transaction of $45,222.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $910,781.15. The trade was a 4.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Price Performance

IDEX stock opened at $179.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.77. IDEX Co. has a 52 week low of $153.36 and a 52 week high of $238.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06.

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 business had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. IDEX’s payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IEX. DA Davidson cut their target price on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $185.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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, IDEX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.50.

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.