Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Acquires 7,677 Shares of Danaher Corporation $DHR

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) by 135.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,357 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Danaher by 220.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 674,373 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $154,377,000 after acquiring an additional 463,764 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Danaher by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 14,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after acquiring an additional 4,990 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Danaher by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Danaher by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,333,056 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $991,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216,789 shares during the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Trading Down 1.7%

DHR opened at $189.69 on Friday. Danaher Corporation has a 1-year low of $178.78 and a 1-year high of $242.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $134.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $201.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.48.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.09. Danaher had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Danaher’s payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $251.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gregory M. Milosevich sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.01, for a total transaction of $274,573.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,060,642.99. The trade was a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) is a global science and technology company that designs, manufactures and markets products and services for the life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental and applied markets. The company organizes its operations into business segments focused on Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions, supplying instruments, reagents, software and related services that support research, clinical testing, biopharmaceutical development, and industrial and environmental monitoring.

Products and services in Danaher’s portfolio include analytical and diagnostic instruments, laboratory consumables and reagents, digital and software solutions for workflow and data management, field and industrial monitoring equipment, and service and maintenance programs.