Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 3,486 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 1.0% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Danaher were worth $15,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 3rd quarter worth $683,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 296,996 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $68,707,000 after acquiring an additional 96,395 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Danaher by 4.8% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Danaher by 0.5% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 553,155 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $137,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Danaher stock traded up $1.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $247.53. 1,714,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,773,065. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.34 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $248.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares in the company, valued at $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 84,132 shares of company stock valued at $21,022,795. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DHR shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. HSBC upgraded Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.00.

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.