NewEdge Advisors LLC Acquires 4,129 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,790 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $13,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $266.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm'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 $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR stock traded up $6.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $198.60. 3,187,263 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,351,414. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $141.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

About Danaher

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.