Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 205,872 Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 205,872 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $13,865,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Donaldson as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,717,289 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $856,509,000 after buying an additional 33,139 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Donaldson by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,994,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $269,014,000 after purchasing an additional 231,424 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,981,739 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $220,380,000 after purchasing an additional 73,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,586 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $169,804,000 after buying an additional 71,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Donaldson by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $101,878,000 after buying an additional 299,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on DCI. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.33.

Insider Activity

In other Donaldson news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total transaction of $1,159,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,255,656.92. This represents a 48.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 28,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $1,972,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,961,279.48. This trade represents a 50.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,164,799. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Donaldson Price Performance

DCI stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.57. 534,775 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 570,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.20. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The business had revenue of $870.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $908.32 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.65%. Donaldson's payout ratio is 31.58%.

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.