Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Increases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,009 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,359 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $17,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DHR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,130,740,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,503,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $3,519,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in Danaher by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,020,865 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $234,340,000 after buying an additional 59,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter worth about $365,000. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In related news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DHR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Danaher from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Danaher from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DHR opened at $210.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. 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 $196.80 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.23 and a 200 day moving average of $237.37.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

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.