RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,979 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,143,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $391,172,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,452,000 after acquiring an additional 916,513 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,105,388 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,842,000 after acquiring an additional 749,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 29,287.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 588,929 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $135,189,000 after purchasing an additional 586,925 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $200.09 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $143.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $213.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.39. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.