Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation raised its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,214 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Danaher were worth $19,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in Danaher by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $207.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $224.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.76. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.