MONECO Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,502 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Danaher by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in Danaher by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on DHR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $211.23 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $226.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.44. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $196.80 and a twelve month high of $281.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.01, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 10.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

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