Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Invests $204,000 in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 888 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Danaher by 15.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,617,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,566,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,631 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Danaher by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,097,986 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,417,342,000 after buying an additional 148,251 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,051,097,000 after buying an additional 26,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Danaher by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $933,524,000 after buying an additional 135,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $211.09 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $150.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $220.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.63.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DHR. Citigroup dropped their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.76.

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.