IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) Shares Acquired by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in shares of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,723 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,881 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.17% of IDEX worth $22,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in IDEX by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,177 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,379,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in IDEX by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,702 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of IDEX by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,306,008 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,947,654,000 after purchasing an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Performance

NYSE:IEX traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $185.51. 369,257 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 637,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.99. IDEX Corporation has a twelve month low of $153.36 and a twelve month high of $238.22.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. IDEX's payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at IDEX

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.