Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires 357 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,061 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE DHR opened at $210.97 on Thursday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $150.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.