Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Stock Holdings Increased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 600,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $40,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Donaldson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,697,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its position in Donaldson by 5,118.4% during the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 268,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,100,000 after acquiring an additional 263,600 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Donaldson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,471,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Donaldson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,865,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 118,156 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 29,500 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.89, for a total transaction of $2,032,255.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,929.26. The trade was a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total transaction of $946,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,992. This represents a 34.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Donaldson Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Donaldson stock opened at $66.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.88. The company has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.10 and a 1 year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $870.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.32 million. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Donaldson’s payout ratio is 31.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on DCI shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.