Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,002 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.1% of Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $8,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in Danaher by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 17,698 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,063,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, David Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,930,000. Institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $201.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $231.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.14. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $199.75 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Company 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.