Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DHR. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.76.

Danaher Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $211.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.82. 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.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.