Howe & Rusling Inc. Invests $3.52 Million in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Howe & Rusling Inc. bought a new position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 15,329 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $3,519,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Danaher during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Danaher

In other Danaher news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $277.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Danaher from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Danaher from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Danaher from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.24.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock opened at $210.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $150.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $215.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.56. Danaher Co. has a 52 week low of $196.80 and a 52 week high of $281.70. 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 (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Danaher’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Danaher’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.