302 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Bought by VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC

VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 302 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $66,194,000 after buying an additional 7,421 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 202,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $8,044,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DHR shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $209.86 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.11. The stock has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

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.