Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,548 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,923,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.5% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Danaher by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 126,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth $233,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $202.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $231.17 and its 200-day moving average is $250.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

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.