Lee Financial Co Reduces Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Lee Financial Co cut its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,555 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Danaher were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $206.66 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $229.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.