Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,282 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in Danaher by 11.6% during 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 period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $235,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $211.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $220.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.82. The firm has a market cap of $150.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors 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 yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio 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.