Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Holdings Increased by Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of DHR stock opened at $207.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.09. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.