Plancorp LLC Has $929,000 Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,046 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this link. Insiders own 10.90% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Price Performance

Danaher stock opened at $211.63 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $151.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.46 and a 200-day moving average of $238.86.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on DHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.