Private Advisor Group LLC Buys 2,519 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,150 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Danaher were worth $11,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Danaher by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $66,194,000 after buying an additional 7,421 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $8,044,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company's 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

DHR stock traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $209.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,209,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,574,762. The company has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average is $227.21 and its 200-day moving average is $247.52. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher's payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

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.