First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,125 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,184 shares during the quarter. Danaher accounts for approximately 2.1% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 540.0% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 160 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $246.45 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $248.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.08. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $259.00. The company has a market capitalization of $182.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,498.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 106,565 shares of company stock worth $26,641,364. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.