Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Short Interest Up 6.8% in January

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 589,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donaldson

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Donaldson by 5.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 439,538 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,394,000 after acquiring an additional 23,758 shares during the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Donaldson by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 67,040 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,941,000 after acquiring an additional 10,280 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Donaldson by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 7.3% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,877 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.81% of the company's stock.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:DCI traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.14. The company had a trading volume of 547,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,740. Donaldson has a 12-month low of $65.60 and a 12-month high of $78.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $70.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.51.

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

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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 increased their price target on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.