Private Advisor Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,150 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $11,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $208.10 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.