Spire Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Spire Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,345 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,361 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 93,886 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $21,552,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,987 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,358,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Capital Insight Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 3,482 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,692 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $214.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $214.03 and a 1 year high of $281.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $235.40 and its 200-day moving average is $253.09.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 business posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

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.