Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,746 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Danaher by 29.9% in the second quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 6,389 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Danaher by 250.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 298 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Danaher by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 130,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $32,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,986 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the second quarter worth $19,512,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Danaher by 21.4% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 45,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,352,000 after buying an additional 8,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $223.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $235.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.45. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $221.34 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm has a market cap of $161.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.27, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 10.72% and a net margin of 16.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DHR. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $277.00 price objective (down previously from $299.00) on shares of Danaher in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised Danaher from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Danaher from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.