Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 11,900 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 226,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,900 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $53,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,915 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Danaher by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,408 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Tuttle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,352 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Danaher

In related news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total value of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $254.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus set a $265.00 price target on shares of Danaher in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $189.46 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.33 and a 200 day moving average of $215.04. Danaher Corporation has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $242.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.