Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Buys 9,474 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 39.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,498 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,474 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.5 %

Danaher stock opened at $206.66 on Monday. 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 moving average of $229.53 and a 200 day moving average of $249.33. The stock has a market cap of $149.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher 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.