PFG Advisors Acquires 8,539 Shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

PFG Advisors boosted its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 40.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,714 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,539 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Danaher were worth $6,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 396.0% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 116.9% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 141 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank raised shares of Danaher from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.48.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:DHR opened at $188.23 on Tuesday. Danaher Corporation has a one year low of $171.00 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.77.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.16. Danaher had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 10.80%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Danaher’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Danaher Company 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.