SageView Advisory Group LLC Buys 1,871 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 78.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,271 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

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 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 4.4 %

DHR opened at $188.75 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.58. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 0.68%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upgraded Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.57.

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.