Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Buys Shares of 14,532 Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 14,532 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Danaher in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DHR shares. StockNews.com cut Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Bank of America upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Danaher Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $209.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.11. 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 $151.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Danaher’s payout ratio is currently 20.45%.

Insider Activity

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 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 owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.