Guinness Asset Management LTD Boosts Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 31,431 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Danaher were worth $37,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $238.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $172.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $222.53 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $234.85 and a 200-day moving average of $253.42.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.80.

Danaher Company 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.