Partners in Financial Planning Takes Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,886 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

DHR opened at $205.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $214.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 period last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on DHR. Stifel Nicolaus raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on 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.