Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $82,000 in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 356 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,390 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Danaher by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Danaher by 4.1% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Trust boosted its holdings in Danaher by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 4,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $205.69 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $214.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.39. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DHR. Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

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.