Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Reaches New 1-Year High at $75.44

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $75.44 and last traded at $75.38, with a volume of 106562 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DCI shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Donaldson in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Donaldson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.75.

Donaldson Trading Down 0.1 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.09 and a 200-day moving average of $64.45.

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

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Donaldson's payout ratio is presently 32.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total value of $330,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,954.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ajita G. Rajendra sold 18,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.51, for a total value of $1,374,637.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,553.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total value of $330,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,035,954.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,407 shares of company stock worth $5,817,942 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth about $63,086,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Donaldson by 215.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,552,946 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $101,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,232 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Donaldson during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,540,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,767,711 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,798,000 after purchasing an additional 824,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,141,693 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,610,000 after purchasing an additional 544,008 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.