D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 1,541 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,835 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $208.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.52. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Profile

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.