Jane Street Group LLC Acquires 56,124 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 5,524.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,140 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 56,124 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.08% of IDEX worth $11,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in IDEX by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 129.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 417 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth $105,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of IDEX in the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IEX traded down $1.25 on Friday, reaching $183.40. 383,458 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 576,282. The company's 50 day moving average is $176.39 and its 200-day moving average is $201.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85. IDEX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $153.36 and a fifty-two week high of $238.22.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.11. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The business 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. The firm's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. IDEX's payout ratio is presently 43.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on IEX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $175.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.25.

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.