Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Holdings Boosted by Successful Portfolios LLC

Successful Portfolios LLC increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,107 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,601 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Danaher by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 33,036 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878 shares during the last quarter. Well Done LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 4,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 7,707 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $0.95 on Thursday, reaching $249.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,472,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,914. The stock has a market cap of $184.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.68. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.53.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Danaher from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Walter G. Lohr sold 3,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $826,032.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,129 shares in the company, valued at $3,548,498.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock worth $8,265,802 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.