Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Increases Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Danaher during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Danaher in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $206.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $149.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.83. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $229.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.13. Danaher Co. has a 1 year low of $196.80 and a 1 year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 20.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DHR shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Danaher in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.