Guardian Capital LP Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Guardian Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,552 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Guardian Capital LP's holdings in Danaher were worth $2,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth $414,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,039 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,948 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth about $254,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,005,442. This trade represents a 51.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $264.40.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $199.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,159,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,367,010. The business has a 50 day moving average of $199.78 and a 200-day moving average of $222.10. The company has a market cap of $142.53 billion, a PE ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $171.00 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.58 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Danaher's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. Danaher's payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

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.