Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Purchased by Congress Wealth Management LLC DE

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,749 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.13, for a total value of $1,277,541.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.56. 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 12-month low of $196.80 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a PE ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.