SFE Investment Counsel Sells 3,686 Shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its holdings in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,686 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $5,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Donaldson during the third quarter worth $41,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Donaldson by 52.0% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Donaldson by 72.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. 82.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:DCI opened at $69.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a one year low of $65.60 and a one year high of $78.95. The company has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.84 and a 200-day moving average of $72.42.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,992. This trade represents a 34.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson 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.