Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Stock

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $67.00 to $68.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 6.91% from the stock’s current price.

DCI has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Donaldson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Donaldson stock opened at $73.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.85. Donaldson has a one year low of $61.00 and a one year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $888.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, CFO Scott J. Robinson sold 83,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.04, for a total transaction of $6,189,744.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,456.08. This represents a 68.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.16, for a total value of $182,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,072,915.44. This trade represents a 8.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,805 shares of company stock valued at $12,310,222. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Donaldson by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,981,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,380,000 after purchasing an additional 73,234 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 5.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,448,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,522,000 after buying an additional 118,156 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Donaldson by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,832,000 after acquiring an additional 32,964 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Donaldson by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,691,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,073,000 after acquiring an additional 75,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,770,000 after purchasing an additional 153,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

About Donaldson

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.