Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 7,037 Shares of IDEX Corporation $IEX

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its IDEX stake by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,037 shares and ending with 18,939 shares valued at about $3.37 million.
• IDEX posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, earning $2.00 per share versus the $1.78 estimate, while revenue rose 8.9% year over year to $886.9 million.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.73 per share from $0.71, and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $241.11.

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,037 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in IDEX were worth $3,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockland Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $887,000. Numerai GP LLC boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 62,313 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,142,000 after purchasing an additional 10,114 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,686,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,140,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IEX. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of IDEX in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.11.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IDEX stock opened at $221.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.38. IDEX Corporation has a one year low of $157.25 and a one year high of $223.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.22. IDEX had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $886.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. IDEX has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.070-2.120 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.350-8.550 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that IDEX Corporation will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. IDEX's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.20%.

Insider Activity at IDEX

In other news, CEO Eric D. Ashleman sold 15,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.22, for a total value of $3,311,159.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $14,346,134.76. This represents a 18.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

IDEX Company Profile

IDEX Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer specializing in the design, production and distribution of highly engineered fluidics systems, measurement technologies and safety solutions. The company's core offerings include positive-displacement pumps, flow meters, valves, sampling systems and analytical instruments that serve a wide range of end markets such as water treatment, chemical processing, energy, food and beverage, and life sciences. Through its focus on precision engineering and proprietary material science, IDEX delivers products designed for reliability in demanding applications.

Operations at IDEX are organized into three principal segments.

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