Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Shares Down 5.4% – Time to Sell?

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)’s share price was down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $73.76 and last traded at $73.87. Approximately 97,744 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 489,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DCI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.11 and its 200-day moving average is $73.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 29.47%. The business had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donaldson

In other news, insider Amy C. Becker sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total value of $1,056,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,015,313.52. This represents a 25.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.33, for a total transaction of $314,952.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 30,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,261,057.22. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,805 shares of company stock worth $12,310,222 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DCI. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Donaldson by 359.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Donaldson by 408.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Donaldson during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Donaldson by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Donaldson by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Donaldson Company Profile

Donaldson Company, Inc manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences. Its Mobile Solutions segment provides replacement filters for air and liquid filtration applications, such as air filtration systems; liquid filtration systems for fuel, lube, and hydraulic applications; exhaust and emissions systems and sensors; indicators; and monitoring systems.