Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Purchases 51,150 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,073 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 51,150 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for about 1.0% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $51,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stenger Family Office LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Finward Bancorp bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Delaney Dennis R boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 24,606 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Danaher by 504.1% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 57,941 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $13,300,000 after buying an additional 48,350 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 2.1 %

Danaher stock traded down $3.95 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $186.71. The company had a trading volume of 3,667,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,325,342. The firm has a market cap of $133.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.23. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $171.00 and a 1 year high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $231.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.