Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,833 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $23,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Danaher by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Danaher by 76.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Danaher by 135.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,346,000 after buying an additional 20,320 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE DHR traded down $0.95 on Wednesday, hitting $239.39. 2,931,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,707,478. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $182.09 and a fifty-two week high of $259.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $249.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.79. The company has a market cap of $177.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.27.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,601,704. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.