IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Sold by DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main reduced its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,278 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,747 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main's holdings in IDEX were worth $4,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of IDEX by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,019,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $959,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $795,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of IDEX by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 15,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,266,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $14,138,000. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Price Performance

NYSE:IEX traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $188.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 517,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,390. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $153.36 and a 52-week high of $238.22. The company has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day moving average is $176.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.53.

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

IDEX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IEX shares. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price objective on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price target on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.