Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 33,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Donaldson during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,086,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Donaldson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,540,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Donaldson by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,767,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,798,000 after purchasing an additional 824,842 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 3.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,996,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,026,000 after acquiring an additional 413,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,308,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,016,000 after acquiring an additional 404,335 shares during the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.7 %

Donaldson stock opened at $71.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.05 and a twelve month high of $75.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.51 and a 200-day moving average of $65.33.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $876.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $874.34 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 28.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.57%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 3,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.09, for a total value of $221,243.43. Following the sale, the president now owns 34,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,509,472.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 3,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.09, for a total value of $221,243.43. Following the sale, the president now owns 34,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,509,472.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total transaction of $330,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,954.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,407 shares of company stock valued at $5,817,942 over the last 90 days. 2.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DCI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Donaldson in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

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.