Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Buys 7,421 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 238,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 1.9% of Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $66,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 7.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,107,030 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,009,928,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,657 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Danaher in the 1st quarter worth $676,545,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,358,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $339,473,000 after purchasing an additional 675,952 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Danaher by 22.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,047,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $761,475,000 after buying an additional 563,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 40,196.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 429,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after buying an additional 428,897 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.37, for a total transaction of $255,488.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,130,374.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $247.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $266.95 and its 200-day moving average is $260.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 47.28, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $190.95 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DHR shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.16.

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.