Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,664 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of IDEX worth $18,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of IEX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in IDEX by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Price Performance

IEX stock opened at $196.61 on Tuesday. IDEX Co. has a 1 year low of $189.51 and a 1 year high of $246.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $209.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.69.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IEX. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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.