Cynosure Group LLC Increases Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Cynosure Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 449.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,512 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 7,781 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $2,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of DHR opened at $200.09 on Wednesday. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $196.80 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70. The company has a market capitalization of $143.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $213.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Danaher in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

About Danaher

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.