Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 356 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

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

Danaher Stock Down 2.1 %

Danaher stock opened at $205.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.