BBR Partners LLC Increases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

BBR Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 54.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,323 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the quarter. BBR Partners LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 163,363 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,500,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 511.5% in the fourth quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 11,147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 9,324 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 684,853 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $157,208,000 after purchasing an additional 8,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $153.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $222.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.43. 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 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.