Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Bought by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,020,865 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 59,639 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Danaher were worth $234,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Danaher by 3.8% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Danaher by 544.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $210.15 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $215.86 and its 200-day moving average is $237.56. The firm has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. 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 payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.