Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $37.96 Million in Danaher Corporation $DHR

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 165,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $37,960,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 268,737 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,519,000 after purchasing an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 37,703 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,633,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd now owns 230,603 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $52,790,000 after purchasing an additional 48,846 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $8,783,000. Finally, Mangrove Partners IM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $1,048,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $181.57 on Wednesday. Danaher Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.93 and a 12-month high of $242.80. The stock has a market cap of $128.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $180.54 and a 200 day moving average of $203.94.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Danaher had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The company had revenue of $5.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Danaher’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Danaher from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $212.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.61.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.