IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Stake Boosted by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. lifted its stake in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 45.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 241,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 75,293 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in IDEX were worth $48,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in IDEX in the first quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in IDEX in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in IDEX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 31.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:IEX opened at $209.04 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $201.10 and its 200-day moving average is $213.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. IDEX Co. has a 12 month low of $183.76 and a 12 month high of $246.36. The firm has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.95.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $807.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.15 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.87% and a net margin of 18.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is 36.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IEX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of IDEX from $265.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.50.

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.