Certuity LLC Purchases 200 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,293 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.28. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on DHR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction 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 represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.