LPL Financial LLC Acquires 22,903 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,903 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $92,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.75. The firm has a market cap of $151.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 business earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

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.