iA Global Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 111,176 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 8,677 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $25,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $209.90 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $150.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $218.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.46.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.76.

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.