Millennium Management LLC Cuts Stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) by 91.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 443,914 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC's holdings in Donaldson were worth $2,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,717,289 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $856,509,000 after purchasing an additional 33,139 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 6.2% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,586 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,804,000 after purchasing an additional 71,707 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,209,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $148,795,000 after purchasing an additional 367,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Donaldson by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,615,481 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $108,804,000 after buying an additional 129,189 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:DCI traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.55. The company had a trading volume of 912,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,155. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.94. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01. 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 $57.45 and a one year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The business had revenue of $940.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $936.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Donaldson's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. This is an increase from Donaldson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Donaldson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Donaldson news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of Donaldson 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 20,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,255,656.92. The trade was a 48.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 28,500 shares of Donaldson 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,961,279.48. This represents a 50.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.