Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Acquires 26,001 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 93.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,719 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 26,001 shares during the quarter. Danaher comprises 1.4% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $12,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Danaher by 4.4% in the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Danaher by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Well Done LLC increased its position in Danaher by 1.2% in the third quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DHR. UBS Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $202.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $146.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $231.17 and its 200-day moving average is $250.62.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.45%.

Danaher 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.