J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $735,000 Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 41.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,943 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Danaher by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Barclays raised their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.67.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $239.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,843,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,876,343. The company has a market cap of $177.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.86. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $269.11.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,352,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,005 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $2,386,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,352,350. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $1,000,040.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,798.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock valued at $37,536,717 in the last quarter. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Company 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.