Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.06 Million Position in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has acquired a new stake in IDEX Corporation, purchasing 5,881 shares valued at approximately $1,064,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Notable investment changes include Price T Rowe Associates increasing its holdings by 8.2% and GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its shares by an astonishing 26,868.7%.
• IDEX stock has seen a 2.3% increase recently, trading at $161.94, with analysts projecting an average price target of $205.25 and a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,881 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in IDEX by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 0.7% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,332 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in IDEX by 81.0% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in IDEX by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDEX Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:IEX traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 261,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The company has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.04. IDEX Corporation has a one year low of $153.36 and a one year high of $238.22. The business's 50-day moving average is $177.75 and its 200-day moving average is $183.65.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $865.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $858.59 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 14.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. IDEX's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IEX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on IDEX from $207.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho set a $185.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on IDEX from $238.00 to $204.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IDEX presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of IDEX stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total value of $45,222.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,035 shares in the company, valued at $910,781.15. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.