Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Acquires New Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,354 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,137 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 113,056 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $348,000. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 101,121 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $23,212,000 after purchasing an additional 22,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 864 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.2 %

Danaher stock opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.75. The company has a market cap of $151.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

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.