Eastern Bank Cuts Stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Eastern Bank lessened its holdings in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,492 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 30,021 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Donaldson worth $5,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 359.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Donaldson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Donaldson by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Donaldson by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 221.0% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donaldson presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.7 %

Donaldson stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $66.99. The stock had a trading volume of 575,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $78.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $72.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.06.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The business's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Donaldson's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,785,992. This represents a 34.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.