Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $7.74 Million Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $7,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $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 Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Danaher Stock Performance

DHR opened at $210.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $150.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.22 and its 200-day moving average is $243.63. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DHR shares. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.