Centricity Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 978 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 79.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Danaher Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DHR opened at $208.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a one year low of $196.80 and a one year high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Danaher from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim began coverage on Danaher in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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 on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.00.

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.