Inspire Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC acquired 4,141 shares of IDEX Corporation, valued at approximately $749,000, as disclosed in a recent 13F filing with the SEC.
• Several institutional investors, including Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Snyder Capital Management L P, have also increased their stakes in IDEX during the last quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• IDEX's stock has recently been rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $218.13, reflecting positive sentiment on its performance and future prospects.

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,141 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 174.0% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 131,845 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $23,860,000 after buying an additional 83,718 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in IDEX by 4.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in IDEX by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 163,743 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,633,000 after purchasing an additional 4,957 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 190.8% in the 1st quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 7,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at IDEX

In other IDEX news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total transaction of $45,222.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $910,781.15. This represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

IDEX Price Performance

NYSE IEX traded down $1.13 during trading on Monday, reaching $184.56. 534,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 616,906. IDEX Corporation has a 1-year low of $153.36 and a 1-year high of $238.22. The company has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $180.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.79.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $814.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. IDEX's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on IDEX from $208.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price objective on IDEX in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $185.00 price objective on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, IDEX has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.13.

IDEX 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.