Millstone Evans Group LLC Purchases New Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in 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 approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $211.63 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market cap of $151.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $217.46 and its 200 day moving average is $238.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

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.