Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,379 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,158 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $34,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,227,108 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $977,900,000 after buying an additional 248,140 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 40,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 7,138 shares during the last quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 65,661 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,190,000 after purchasing an additional 8,178 shares during the period. Tower View Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,227 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,523,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Danaher by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joakim Weidemanis sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.46, for a total transaction of $5,618,569.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 90,412 shares in the company, valued at $22,644,589.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 107,273 shares of company stock valued at $26,813,819. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

DHR opened at $248.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $183.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $248.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.27. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $182.09 and a 1 year high of $259.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Danaher from $259.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Danaher from $254.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.31.

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.