Natixis Advisors L.P. Sells 20,498 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lowered its position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 41.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20,498 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in IDEX were worth $6,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in IDEX by 1,196.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 135,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,598,000 after acquiring an additional 125,348 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,190,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $475,632,000 after purchasing an additional 84,502 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 7.1% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 13.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 244,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,884,000 after purchasing an additional 28,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in IDEX by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 76,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,601,000 after buying an additional 7,684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IEX. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of IDEX from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on IDEX from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.71.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of IEX stock opened at $222.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $234.10 and its 200 day moving average is $217.94. IDEX Co. has a 1-year low of $183.76 and a 1-year high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.12. IDEX had a net margin of 17.89% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $801.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.68%.

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.