IDEX Corporation $IEX Stock: Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Stake

Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its position in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) by 4.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 371,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,600 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in IDEX were worth $84,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the second quarter worth $1,301,393,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the second quarter valued at about $748,951,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 215.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,094,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $207,387,000 after acquiring an additional 746,732 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 101.4% in the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,042,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $236,641,000 after acquiring an additional 525,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the second quarter valued at about $102,523,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. They issued a “moderate buy” rating and a $283.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of IDEX from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of IDEX from $267.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. DA Davidson set a $245.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on IDEX from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IDEX news, CAO Lisa Anderson sold 385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.59, for a total value of $91,857.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,032,378.93. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:IEX opened at $233.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.78. The company has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.95. IDEX Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.60 and a 52-week high of $243.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $230.29 and a 200-day moving average of $216.63.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.09. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.18% and a net margin of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $951.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $934.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. IDEX’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that IDEX Corporation will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.56%.

About IDEX

IDEX Corporation is an industrial manufacturing company headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company designs and produces engineered products and technologies used to move, control, measure and apply fluids, as well as equipment used in fire and safety applications.

IDEX operates through businesses serving fluid and metering technologies, health and science technologies, and fire and safety markets. Its products include pumps, valves, flow meters, compressors, dispensing equipment, precision fluidics components and systems, fire pumps, rescue tools and other specialized equipment.

The company serves a broad range of industries, including healthcare, life sciences, water and wastewater, chemical processing, energy, food and beverage, agriculture, industrial manufacturing and municipal fire protection.