Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Boosts Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,480 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,923,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Danaher by 13.3% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,282 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,025,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 5.8% during the third quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Danaher by 52.5% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,255 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 5.5% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,481 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $203.42 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $203.00 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $146.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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 $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DHR shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven 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 target price of $278.00.

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.