Enterprise Financial Services Corp Sells 68 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp cut its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Danaher were worth $784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the third quarter worth about $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, 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 at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $212.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.82. The stock has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.60%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given 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 an average price target 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.