Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.99 Billion Stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,180,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of IDEX worth $1,993,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of IEX. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in IDEX during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IEX opened at $202.31 on Wednesday. IDEX Co. has a twelve month low of $183.76 and a twelve month high of $246.36. The firm has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 3.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $218.59 and a 200-day moving average of $221.53.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.12. IDEX had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 17.89%. The company had revenue of $801.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.52 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on IDEX from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.71.

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.