Guardian Partners Inc. Makes New $4.22 Million Investment in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 17,724 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $4,220,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.24.

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Danaher Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DHR traded down $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $210.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,989,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,016,885. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $215.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.