Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Invests $201,000 in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in Donaldson in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Donaldson by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Donaldson by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Donaldson in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Donaldson by 89.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total value of $1,159,774.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,255,656.92. The trade was a 48.02% 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. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson Price Performance

DCI stock opened at $68.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.36. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. Donaldson had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 28.86%. The firm had revenue of $940.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $936.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Donaldson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Donaldson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Donaldson’s payout ratio is presently 40.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on DCI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Donaldson in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donaldson has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

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.