Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,673 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 12,967 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new position in Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,401 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company's stock.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Donaldson stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Monday, reaching $70.89. The company had a trading volume of 474,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.45 and a fifty-two week high of $78.95. The firm's fifty day moving average is $65.92 and its 200-day moving average is $69.48.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The company had revenue of $870.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.32 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Donaldson news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total value of $1,159,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,255,656.92. This trade represents a 48.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 29,500 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.89, for a total transaction of $2,032,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,951,929.26. This trade represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,164,799 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DCI. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donaldson presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.33.

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.