V Square Quantitative Management LLC Grows Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 0.5% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.4% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.2% during the third quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 0.9% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $203.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $147.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.28. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

About Danaher

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.