First Affirmative Financial Network Increases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

First Affirmative Financial Network raised its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Danaher makes up about 0.7% of First Affirmative Financial Network’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth about $40,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.14.

Danaher Stock Down 10.0 %

DHR stock opened at $223.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.16 billion, a PE ratio of 42.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $236.09 and a 200-day moving average of $253.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.37. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $223.00 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.