Focus Financial Network Inc. Buys 828 Shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 828 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $2,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Donaldson by 171.9% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 19,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 12,119 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Donaldson by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Donaldson by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 47,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares during the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Donaldson during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in Donaldson by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on DCI. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donaldson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Performance

DCI stock opened at $70.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.60 and a 1 year 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.44.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In related news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total transaction of $946,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,992. The trade was a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.