IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Stake Decreased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 965,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 67,076 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in IDEX were worth $202,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IEX. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 108.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,830,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,456 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of IDEX by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,223,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,479,000 after purchasing an additional 273,460 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter worth $31,747,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 16.2% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 742,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $159,314,000 after buying an additional 103,432 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in IDEX during the third quarter valued at about $22,158,000. Institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX stock opened at $193.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.11. IDEX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $189.51 and a fifty-two week high of $246.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.74.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.01. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. Analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.00.

IDEX 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.