Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,061 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $933,524,000 after buying an additional 135,047 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 33,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,737,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,066 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 234,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $53,818,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,164 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DHR. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price objective on Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $210.97 on Thursday. 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. The company has a market cap of $150.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.63.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 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.