HFR Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

HFR Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,066 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Danaher comprises approximately 2.3% of HFR Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. HFR Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $9,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $205.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $224.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.31.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.