6,419 Shares in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Purchased by Bernard Wealth Management Corp.

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,419 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,559,000. Danaher accounts for approximately 1.1% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,149.90. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DHR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Danaher from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 target price (down from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Danaher in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.24.

Danaher Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE DHR opened at $180.71 on Tuesday. Danaher Co. has a 12-month low of $171.92 and a 12-month high of $281.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $129.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86.

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 return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.