Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,392 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $208.10 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.