Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 56,350 Shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 417,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 56,350 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.35% of Donaldson worth $28,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in Donaldson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,697,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 5,118.4% during the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 268,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,100,000 after purchasing an additional 263,600 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson in the 4th quarter valued at $17,471,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth $13,865,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $180,522,000 after acquiring an additional 118,156 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 29,500 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total value 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. Insiders sold a total of 72,000 shares of company stock worth $4,951,425 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DCI shares. StockNews.com cut Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DCI stock opened at $68.32 on Wednesday. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.10 and a 12-month high of $78.95. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is 31.58%.

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.