Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Raised by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 223,073 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 51,150 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 1.0% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $51,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth about $414,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,039 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,948 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $189.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $135.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $171.00 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.73.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.57.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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 $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 available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.