Center for Financial Planning Inc. Purchases 424 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $206.66 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.96. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

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.