Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Invests $621,000 in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 9,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $8,044,000. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $194.86 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.95. The company has a market cap of $139.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.40.

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.