Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $2,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DCI. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in Donaldson by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 34,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 171.9% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 19,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 12,119 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 17.8% in the fourth 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. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Donaldson in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total value of $946,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,992. The trade was a 34.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DCI. Robert W. Baird raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Donaldson has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Price Performance

Donaldson stock opened at $68.49 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $69.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.91 and a 1 year high of $78.95.

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

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

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.