Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Increases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 864 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Danaher by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 0.2 %

Danaher stock opened at $212.36 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.41 and a 200 day moving average of $237.75. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

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.