Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on DCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DCI opened at $71.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.62. 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 has a one year low of $64.35 and a one year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,992. This represents a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new stake in Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth $61,697,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 5,118.4% during the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 268,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,100,000 after purchasing an additional 263,600 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the fourth quarter worth about $17,471,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Donaldson by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,448,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,522,000 after buying an additional 118,156 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Donaldson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,513,000. Institutional investors own 82.81% 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.