Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Has $895,000 Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $207.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $196.80 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $224.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.09.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.