BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 19,243 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.17% of IDEX worth $28,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of IEX. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in IDEX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $469,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in IDEX during the 1st quarter valued at $11,765,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 301.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after buying an additional 5,182 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IEX opened at $230.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.96. IDEX Co. has a 1-year low of $189.51 and a 1-year high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus downgraded shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.14.

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.