Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Buys 3,023 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 497.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,631 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,023 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $30,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.4 %

Danaher stock opened at $239.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.27.

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.