IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Bought by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,850 shares during the quarter. IDEX comprises about 3.6% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.44% of IDEX worth $69,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in IDEX by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 4,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in IDEX by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of IEX opened at $181.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85. IDEX Co. has a 12 month low of $176.39 and a 12 month high of $242.09. The stock has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $195.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.23.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.01. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 15.45%. Equities analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IEX shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.71.

IDEX Company 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.