Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Acquired by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,233 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Danaher were worth $4,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $206.66 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $229.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.13. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

About Danaher

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.