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

Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,707 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,923,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 6.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,337 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.8% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 42,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,888,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $226.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.