Davis R M Inc. Acquires 1,467 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Davis R M Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 327,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Danaher comprises about 1.5% of Davis R M Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $75,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $205.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 12 month low of $196.80 and a 12 month high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.18. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

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.