Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,787 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during 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. Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.5% in the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $238.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $234.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.32. The company has a market capitalization of $172.20 billion, a PE ratio of 45.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $222.53 and a 1-year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.80.

About Danaher

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.