Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Buys 9,295 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,295 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $6,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock opened at $186.71 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.60. 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 market cap of $133.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.55.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.