PFG Advisors Has $4.86 Million Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

PFG Advisors trimmed its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,175 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Danaher were worth $4,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $206.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $147.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $221.55 and its 200-day moving average is $241.74.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.