Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 151.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,265 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,371 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DHR. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $826,032.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,498.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,548,498.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,273 shares of company stock valued at $26,813,819. 10.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $248.38 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $248.48 and a 200-day moving average of $232.60. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $182.09 and a one year high of $259.00. The stock has a market cap of $183.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.31%.

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.