Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases 586,925 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $135,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $209.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $225.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.