Avestar Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,017 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DHR. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 93.8% in the 4th quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 53,719 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,331,000 after acquiring an additional 26,001 shares during the last quarter. Phraction Management LLC lifted its holdings in Danaher by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Phraction Management LLC now owns 37,062 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,508,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in Danaher by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 6,862.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 929,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $213,452,000 after purchasing an additional 916,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Danaher by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a market cap of $147.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $230.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.28.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $309.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.