Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,076 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $48,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Citigroup increased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Danaher from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Danaher from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC raised Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.29.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $251.80 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $255.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.19. The company has a market capitalization of $186.51 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.36 EPS. Danaher’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,908,273.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Danaher news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rainer Blair sold 47,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.22, for a total value of $11,756,953.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,995 shares in the company, valued at $28,908,273.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,783 shares of company stock worth $37,536,717. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher 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.