Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Raises Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,020,865 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,639 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.14% of Danaher worth $234,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $215.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.56. The stock has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.