Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Stock Position Increased by Quent Capital LLC

Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Danaher stock opened at $201.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $145.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $199.75 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.14.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DHR. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.