D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,294 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 343 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 1.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in 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 valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 3.4% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Trust Co of Kansas increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the second quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 1,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.7% during the second quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 5,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $238.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $255.25 and a 200 day moving average of $259.52. The company has a market cap of $172.50 billion, a PE ratio of 45.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $215.68 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $278.00 to $277.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

About Danaher

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.