Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases 4,910 Shares of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX)

Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its holdings in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 190.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,484 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,910 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in IDEX were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of IDEX by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of IDEX by 1.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in IDEX by 0.7% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,332 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IEX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on IDEX from $208.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho set a $185.00 target price on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $218.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total value of $45,222.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $910,781.15. The trade was a 4.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

IDEX Price Performance

NYSE IEX traded up $1.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $185.51. 369,257 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,849. The company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. IDEX Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $153.36 and a fifty-two week high of $238.22. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $180.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.37.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.11. IDEX had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 15.51%. The company had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. IDEX's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. IDEX's payout ratio is 45.01%.

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.