Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $3,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Donaldson by 108.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 74,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,480,000 after purchasing an additional 38,626 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Donaldson by 263.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,879,000 after buying an additional 38,152 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Donaldson by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Donaldson in the 3rd quarter worth $2,960,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DCI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donaldson has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Price Performance

Donaldson stock opened at $67.08 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.57. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.10 and a 1 year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $870.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.32 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

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.