NEOS Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,990 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1,212.8% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,044,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 847,348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $235,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Danaher by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 1.1 %

Danaher stock opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.56.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $278.24.

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.