Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 82,359 Shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 719,915 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 82,359 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Donaldson worth $53,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCI. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 147,777 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,575,000 after purchasing an additional 3,792 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Donaldson by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,285,130 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,964,000 after acquiring an additional 9,143 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Donaldson during the second quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,993 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Donaldson by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 34,023 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,435,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott J. Robinson sold 83,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.04, for a total value of $6,189,744.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,791,456.08. This represents a 68.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 2,700 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total transaction of $198,099.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,053,112.71. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,095 shares of company stock valued at $6,885,695. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:DCI traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $67.70. 418,175 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,310. 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 Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.79 and a twelve month high of $78.95. The stock has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.63 and a 200 day moving average of $73.22.

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

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Donaldson's payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.00.

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.