Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Raises Position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,092 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Danaher Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DHR opened at $209.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $151.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $226.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week 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, hitting 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 boost 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher 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 value of $1,277,541.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company 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.