Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,210 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Dover were worth $9,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Dover by 783.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Dover in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 84.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen M. Todd sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total transaction of $256,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,929,666.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Dover news, Director Stephen M. Todd sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.19, for a total value of $256,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,955 shares in the company, valued at $3,929,666.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total value of $3,001,014.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,897,406.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,910 shares of company stock worth $4,318,059 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DOV. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Dover from $187.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Dover from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Dover from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Dover from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Dover from $185.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.75.

Dover Trading Up 0.6 %

Dover stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,104,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 968,794. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.75 and a 200-day moving average of $154.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.40. Dover Co. has a one year low of $127.25 and a one year high of $181.49.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.07. Dover had a return on equity of 25.95% and a net margin of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dover Co. will post 9.07 EPS for the current year.

Dover Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Dover’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.13%.

Dover Company Profile

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market.