1,301 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Purchased by Bradyco Inc.

Bradyco Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,301 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $222.89 and a 200-day moving average of $243.43. The company has a market cap of $153.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

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

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.