Stenger Family Office LLC Buys New Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Stenger Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,226 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Danaher by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,750,122 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $13,715,641,000 after purchasing an additional 315,912 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,358,206 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,996,000 after buying an additional 315,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $2,130,740,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Danaher by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,589,019 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,971,609,000 after buying an additional 441,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Danaher by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,578,945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,051,097,000 after acquiring an additional 26,305 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Danaher Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $189.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $135.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $202.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.73. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $171.00 and a 52 week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DHR. Barclays upgraded shares of Danaher from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 price target (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.57.

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.