Edge Capital Group LLC Raises Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,707 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Danaher by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Danaher by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,454 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 12,682 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $1,061,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.5 %

Danaher stock opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.