Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 63,699 Shares of IDEX Corporation $IEX

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp increased its IDEX position by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 63,699 more shares and bringing its total stake to 1,976,856 shares worth about $351.8 million.
• Insider activity was mixed: CEO Eric D. Ashleman sold 15,385 shares for about $3.31 million, reducing his direct ownership by 18.75%.
• IDEX posted solid results and returned cash to shareholders, beating earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarter, raising its quarterly dividend to $0.73 per share, and issuing full-year EPS guidance of $8.35 to $8.55.

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,976,856 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 63,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 2.64% of IDEX worth $351,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in IDEX by 16.6% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 577 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,661 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Legacy Group grew its holdings in IDEX by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Legacy Group now owns 5,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IDEX news, CEO Eric D. Ashleman sold 15,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.22, for a total transaction of $3,311,159.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,658 shares in the company, valued at $14,346,134.76. The trade was a 18.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IEX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $242.00) on shares of IDEX in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seaport Research Partners restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $257.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of IDEX in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.11.

IDEX Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE IEX opened at $218.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. IDEX Corporation has a 1-year low of $157.25 and a 1-year high of $223.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.47 and a 200-day moving average of $197.22. The company has a market cap of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.22. IDEX had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The company had revenue of $886.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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, equities research analysts expect that IDEX Corporation will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.20%.

About IDEX

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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