Kentucky Trust Co Purchases New Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 150 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $202.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $231.17 and a 200 day moving average of $250.62. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher 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.