Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 595 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $210.97 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.63. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change 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 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.