California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 258,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,982 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Dover worth $39,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Dover by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 25,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Dover by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 557,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,612,000 after purchasing an additional 29,096 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dover by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 202,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,145,000 after purchasing an additional 53,273 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dover by 15.6% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Dover by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after buying an additional 6,050 shares during the period. 84.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Dover from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Dover from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dover from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Dover from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Dover from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.75.

Dover Stock Performance

DOV opened at $180.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.29. Dover Co. has a 1-year low of $127.25 and a 1-year high of $181.49. The firm has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Dover Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total transaction of $3,001,014.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at $3,897,406.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total transaction of $1,060,260.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,164,699.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total transaction of $3,001,014.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,406.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,910 shares of company stock worth $4,318,059. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Dover

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.