Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Buys Shares of 67,551 IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 67,551 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $14,138,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.09% of IDEX as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IEX. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in IDEX by 129.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 417 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in IDEX by 24,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company's stock.

IDEX Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE IEX traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.40. The company had a trading volume of 383,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,282. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $153.36 and a 52-week high of $238.22. The stock has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.21.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $814.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $807.25 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 15.45%. The business's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on IEX shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.25.

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.