Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Takes Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,087,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 129.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 417 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. 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 note 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 target price on IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $185.00 target price on IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.50.

IDEX Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of IEX traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.79. 834,199 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 583,218. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. IDEX Co. has a 52 week low of $153.36 and a 52 week high of $238.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

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

IDEX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.01%.

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.