Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,631 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 733.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Danaher during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 3.2 %

DHR opened at $247.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $183.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $270.43 and a 200 day moving average of $260.43. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $182.09 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 9,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,521,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 97,983 shares in the company, valued at $27,435,240. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total value of $255,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,059 shares of company stock valued at $8,400,897. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.