Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DHR. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,899 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 2,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,329 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3 %

DHR stock traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $246.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,710,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,710,897. The company has a 50 day moving average of $248.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The company has a market capitalization of $182.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.77, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at $22,644,589.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,908,273.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total value of $5,618,569.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,644,589.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.