Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,946,376 shares, a decrease of 24.3% from the February 26th total of 3,893,553 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,245,508 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard J. Tobin sold 76,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.70, for a total transaction of $17,917,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 217,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,723,713.30. This trade represents a 26.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ivonne M. Cabrera sold 4,000 shares of Dover stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $932,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 72,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,836,407.24. This represents a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 82,497 shares of company stock worth $19,196,277. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dover

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dover by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,733,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,266,951,000 after acquiring an additional 120,341 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Dover by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,760,797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,319,978,000 after purchasing an additional 227,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Dover by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,519,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $684,348,000 after purchasing an additional 30,372 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Dover by 174.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,880,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $562,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830,722 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its holdings in Dover by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 2,623,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $512,169,000 after purchasing an additional 235,454 shares during the period. 84.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DOV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Dover in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays set a $206.00 target price on shares of Dover in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Dover from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Dover in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Dover from $228.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.54.

Dover Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of DOV stock traded up $5.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $208.53. 852,570 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,302,686. Dover has a 1 year low of $143.04 and a 1 year high of $237.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $216.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.16.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Dover had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 17.87%. Dover’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. Research analysts predict that Dover will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Dover Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Dover’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.20%.

About Dover

Dover Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer of industrial products, components and specialty systems that serve a wide range of commercial and industrial end markets. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, the company has built a portfolio of operating businesses that design, manufacture and distribute engineered equipment, aftermarket parts and related services for customers around the world.

Dover’s activities span several product and solution categories, including fluid-handling and pumping systems, material handling and processing equipment, refrigeration and foodservice technologies, product identification and printing systems, precision components and automation and sensing solutions.