Wrapmanager Inc. Acquires 69 Shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total transaction of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $211.23 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.44. The stock has a market cap of $150.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.83.

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 last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio 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.