Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 17,680 Shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 199,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,680 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $13,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Donaldson by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 89.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Donaldson by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Donaldson in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Activity at Donaldson

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total transaction of $946,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,992. This trade represents a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 29,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.89, for a total value of $2,032,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,929.26. The trade was a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,951,425. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE DCI opened at $68.82 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.04. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.10 and a fifty-two week high of $78.95. 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 (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $908.32 million. Equities analysts expect that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.