Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 429,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,659 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.57% of IDEX worth $93,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IEX. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 64,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,704 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of IDEX by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the 4th quarter worth $428,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in IDEX by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 57,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,376,000 after acquiring an additional 11,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

NYSE:IEX opened at $220.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.25. IDEX Co. has a twelve month low of $183.76 and a twelve month high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $801.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.52 million. IDEX had a net margin of 17.89% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 8.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of IDEX from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.71.

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.