Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,835 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,923,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Danaher by 5.3% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 45,631 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $12,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 40,196.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $119,539,000 after purchasing an additional 428,897 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DHR traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $209.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. 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 price of $227.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.52.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.