IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,357 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $2,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IEX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in IDEX by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of IDEX by 38.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 100.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDEX Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:IEX opened at $223.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.96. IDEX Co. has a 1 year low of $189.51 and a 1 year high of $246.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.97.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 15.92%. IDEX’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on IDEX from $251.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.14.

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.