Davis Rea LTD. Raises Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Davis Rea LTD. grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 156.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,428 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 25,261 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for 4.8% of Davis Rea LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in Danaher by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $205.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $225.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.