Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Grows Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 330,715 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,989 shares during the period. Danaher makes up approximately 1.1% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $75,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DHR. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Danaher by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Danaher by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 4.5% in the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Danaher by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Danaher by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHR traded down $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $238.90. 1,442,647 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,624,747. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $236.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.11. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $222.53 and a 1-year high of $281.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.14. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.39%. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Danaher from $333.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.80.

Danaher 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.