Davis Rea LTD. Grows Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Davis Rea LTD. lifted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 156.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,428 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,261 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 4.8% of Davis Rea LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $205.69 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $225.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.50. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. 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 (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 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 firm posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.